"Euthanasia and assisted suicide should not be considered acceptable responses. They undermine human dignity and are morally wrong. The Salvation Army believes, therefore, that euthanasia and assisted suicide should be illegal" (Salvation Army). Double Effect is, "a term used to differentiate morally between the ethical intentions of those who administer drugs for the purpose of relieving symptoms and those who administer them with the intention of killing the patient" (Euthanasia Free-NZ). What it means is that the question must be asked whether or not medicine may be used to relieve a patient of their illness or used as a weapon to kill. Similarly a fear of misuse of the authority given to physicians that may allow them to pressure or suggest euthanasia against a patient is present.
A civilized society should not deal with the problem of sick and suffering persons by killing them or allowing them to kill themselves, but by relieving their distress and making the required support availablesuch a path would lead vulnerable patients being persuaded to request assisted death when it is not what they really want. (Meagan Best, Andrew Cameron) .
Even so, euthanasia and the contradictory ethical questions pertaining to its use should not be mistaken for the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures which does not constitute as assisted-suicide. Ultimately euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide has too high of a risk of abuse to effectively help terminally ill patients. .
In many cultures, including the American culture, a hospital death is not considered a good death. Through physician-assisted suicide an ill and dying patient may have the choice of a comfortable death in their own home surrounded by loved ones and away from the foreign surroundings of the hospital. Persons with terminal illnesses have horrific futures ahead of them when treatment is not available.