should we legalise euthanasia?

IN SINGAPORE, euthanasia was hotly debated last year after Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan flagged the need for individuals and families to start thinking about an 'end-of-life care plan'. He wanted people to be prepared for death by, for example, signing living wills so that their families would not be put in the difficult position of having to decide for them.
Some religious groups came out to say they opposed euthanasia but others welcomed the debate, saying it needed to be discussed in a rapidly ageing society.

A growing number of people worldwide are lobbying their governments to allow euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide.

In physician-assisted suicide, a doctor supplies a death-causing means, such as barbiturates, but the patient performs the final act that brings about death, such as taking the drug. In voluntary euthanasia, the physician performs the death-causing act, usually a lethal injection, after determining that the patient indeed wishes to end his life.

Neither term applies to a patient's refusal of life-support technology, such as a respirator or artificial nutrition. This is allowed in many countries, including Singapore, which passed the Advance Medical Directive Act in 1996.
In Singapore, a person caught for attempted suicide can be jailed for up to a year. Assisting a suicide is a serious crime and carries severe penalties, including a mandatory jail term.

COUNSELLING HELPLINES IN SINGAPORE