Kaiser Mahmmood.
Euthanasia and hospice.
Biomedica Jan ;22(1):37-40.

The decision to end one`s life is a very complex issue. Supporters of the right-to-die movement strictly believe in the right of the elderly, terminally ill to control the time, place and manner of their own deaths. The right -to-die organizations, like the Hemlock Society of California suggested legalized euthanasia and where as "euthanasia" refers to the process through which a terminally ill person can be helped to experience a dignified death. Euthanasia can be performed by lethal injection, gas, the removal of life support equipment and the removal of necessary medicine. The humanistic world view see people as autonomous, independent biological entities, whose life`s purpose is pleasure and this view sees little value in suffering. But, deciding to end a human life is challenged in almost all religious traditions. Opponents of the right-to-die movement consider the movement an affront to the preservation of life and have labeled it a "death cult" that supports genocide. The end of the twentieth century has observed a remarkable upsurge of interest in the care of dying patients and their families. This is most evident in the work of the hospice movement. Hospice is a Philosophy, not a facility. It is an approach to the giving of care. The hospice concept views death not as a failure but as a normal and natural stage of life, to be approached with dignity. The philosophy of the hospice staff is to "extend the quality of life` when we can`t extend the quantity of life. Hospice affirms life. Hospice exists to provide support and care for persons in the last phases of incurable disease so that they might live as fully and comfortably as possible. And this care is opposed to the legalization of euthanasia. This is a review article.

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