The document discusses the issue of euthanasia and arguments around legalizing the practice. It notes that some people will experience prolonged, painful deaths from incurable diseases and pass their final stages in a vegetative state. While drugs can relieve suffering for many, there will always be some who request euthanasia. The document explores options around active versus passive euthanasia and whether legalizing euthanasia could lead to abuse or influence societal attitudes toward life. It also discusses whether a society can prohibit euthanasia based on moral objections.

1. The problem for which euthanasia is offered as a solution is essentially this: today and in the foreseeable future at least some people will be dying painful and prolonged deaths from incurable diseases, or they will pass the final stages of their life in an irreversible coma, existing in what is often described as a vegetative state.