Stephanie asked:

What are some of the reasons for or against euthanasia?

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To be honest, the fight is about the interpretation of the word "euthanasia". Everybody seems to have
an opinion, but everybody uses his/ her own presumptions. So look critically at the assumptions you
or somebody else uses.

If somebody sees euthanasia as murder, then the discussion is about the use of the word "murder".
The word mercy-killing assumes that somebody kills out of mercy. But what if the victim doesn't want
mercy, but sincerely wants to stop living?

As a severely handicapped person I know that even in my country The Netherlands euthanasia
almost only exists on paper and mostly drowns in formalities (it is in practice only rarely applied for
people older than seventy years). I myself at first travelled this road at a much younger age and be
sure I'm quite capable of expressing my wishes. There appeared to be hundreds of rules that doctors,
clergyman, nurses social workers etc. tried to follow. I rightfully denied every rule, but that was not
enough. Because the real problem nobody wanted, and they only used the rules to hide themselves.

Let's stick to my case of somebody quite capable of making decisions. Then it's a matter of following
the rules to be certain that the process happens well. Not a matter of "yes" and "no". My opinion of life
is not a Christian one, and for me death was just a relief of which I'm not afraid.

The are as you know as many opinions as persons. So basing a decision on some concept of life
without saying so is not very brave. I respect every opinion, but want to make decisions on my own.

Don't worry, in the meantime I'm quite happy as a philosopher (thanks to the PC).

Henk Tuten