Supports of the mercy killing ask whether it is rational or not to keep a terminally ill patient who’s hopes of survival are slim and alive on a support system when our medical infrastructure is under immense pressure (Naik, 2011). Supporters also ask why mercy killing is not legalized when murder in defense is taken into consideration by law (Naik, 2011).
1. The Patient’s right to self-determination. Patient empowerment has been a trend for more than twenty-five years. “it’s my life, my pain. Why can’t I get the treatment I want?” (Newman, 1996). Severely ill patients will be able to die with dignity and honor rather than waiting for their sickness to consume every part of them. Forbidding someone who is terminally ill and is suffer gives that patient a feeling of being trapped in agony and their