Euthanasia and the terminally ill: can the civil killing of others be eroded?

The present paper assesses attitudes towards the ending of life among a sample of 100 terminally ill hospice patients. Such a sample best provides an insight into the demand for euthanasia in this most extreme of circumstances. Of the completed interviews (64), 43 patients were fully aware of the implications of their condition; 35 expressed a definite opinion regarding euthanasia, 22 of whom favored the individual's right to choose the timing of death. Only 6 of these 22 were fully competent at the time of the interview and were not suffering from any depressive disorder. The implications of these results point to the need to consider the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and related disorders among those who seek an end to life. A failure to do so is likely to affect legislation worldwide, and, in turn, civilization itself.