Time was when doctors, as a matter of course, carried with them, on their rounds, a phial containing morphine. To the best of my knowledge, it wasn't used indiscriminately, but to give release to those whose lives had become little more than a miserable existence. I wonder how many of those who denigrate people being given the choice of euthanasia would insist on living if their lives had become intolerable. Perhaps if the happy, healthy, and hopeful -who make rules for others- could begin to understand what it feels like to be in constant, unrelieved pain and devoid of hope, they might view it more compassionately.