read agreement in the medical profession that a doctor should not force a patient to prolong his or her life if the chances for survival in the long run are poor. For example, Dr. Charles H. Epps of the Howard University College of Medicine in Washington D.C. has stated, "It is perfectly ethical - if a patient has an illness or disease where death is inevitable and there is suffering - to withdraw or not provide life-prolonging measures if the patient is competent and that is his wish" (Epps, Jet 16).
In contrast to this view on passive euthanasia, there is widespread rejection from both the medical and legal communities regarding the use of active euthanasia. Active euthanasia is generally regarded as assisting a person in committing suicide. Although suicide itself is not a crime in the United States, the assisting of another in suicide counts as a felony murder charge (Scully 112). As an example, a Florida doctor was recently brought to trial on murder charges for administering an overdose of drugs to help his wife escape incurable cancer (Jacoby 101). Active euthanasia is now illegal in
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