Euthanasia can be regarded as both suicide, and murder, depending on whether it is the patient who asks for their life to be ended, or someone acting on their behalf.

If I was terminally ill and in severe pain, I imagine I would be desperate for relief from it. In that situation if I was able to communicate, I expect that I would ask the doctor for help. As the law stands at the moment, the doctor would not legally be able to end my life, no matter how much of a kindness it would be. In the eyes of the law it would be murder.

There have been several cases on the news in recent years, where a person who is living with unbearable pain and a poor quality of life, has asked the doctor to help them end their life with dignity. As doctors are not allowed to do it the case has gone to court, to be decided by a judge. As far as I am aware, they have never agreed. This means that the one person who knows the whole situation, and whose opinion ought to be honoured, is the patient. Refusing them a pain free end to their suffering is tantamount to torturing them.

In situations like this I believe that helping a person die when they have asked for it, and knowing that they will never get better, is the merciful thing to do. While I can understand that their families do not want to lose them, for the sake of the person suffering surely their decision should be the one that matters.

The situation is much more complicated when the person is unconscious (such as in a coma) or mentally ill. As they are unable to either request euthanasia, or refuse it, the decision to do it would be most likely regarded as murder.

On the other hand though, if the ill person persuaded the doctor to prescribe a large dose of medication, and then took it all in one go, it would be suicide.

Occasionally a desperate person will go abroad, to one of the countries where it is legal. There they can end their life in peace, with dignity, at a time that suits them. This means that they can say goodbye to their loved ones, and take care of anything they need to, before they go away. This has to be better than lying in bed, in agony, not knowing how much longer you have to carry on.

It is a shame however, that there is nowhere in this country that is allowed to perform this service. Not everyone has the kind of money to be able to afford to go abroad to a private clinic. If it was available here, they could die with their friends and family around them in a loving environment.

Until that day comes, they have no choice but to suffer.