The end of life can be a fraught, sensitive, and distressing time both for the person approaching death and their families. Many endure pain and suffering and extended illness before their natural end.

Under modern understandings of personal autonomy, people naturally desire an end to suffering and pain, especially when a prognosis is terminal.

However, a critical and dangerous line is crossed when the law allows the medical industry to actively enact death rather than prioritising care and comfort until the natural end. Once euthanasia becomes one option among others, it decreases the need for investment in certain life-extending treatments and palliative care.