Passive euthanasia and physician assisted suicide have become hot topics of late and many people think it is about physicians becoming killers and 'putting patients to sleep' much like is done with animals. This is not true, however, despite the opinions that many hold. The main problem is that many feel that passive euthanasia and physician assisted suicide will give doctors too much control over the deaths of their terminally ill patients. This is not the case, however, as passive euthanasia and physician assisted suicide will actually give the terminally ill patients more control over their death, and therefore by extension, more control over their life. Not all physicians would be able to do this in good conscience but there are some, most notably Dr. Jack Kevorkian, that feel that they are capable of this type of practice in order to help the suffering of their patients.
             There are many individuals that feel as though passive euthanasia is morally permissible because the doctor is not actively doing anything to speed the course of the patient's death. This is believed to be harmless in that the person that is terminally ill is simply allowed to die naturally and the death is not forced or encouraged, but simply not stopped through medication, resuscitation, or other means. The question, however, is whether this idea can then be extended to physician assisted suicide and the morality that surrounds that very controversial issue. Physician assisted suicide has not been seen in the news that much lately, but it is still very controversial. Some patients actually request this because they cannot be helped by any modern means to get better in any way and the pain that they are going through in the process of dying is simply too great for them to bear.
             Physician assisted suicide is not legal anywhere in the United States except Oregon but there are strong opinions that indicate that it is unreasonable to stop physicians f...