Euthanasia Euthanasia, as defined in Microsoft Encarta 95', is "the act of painlessly ending the life of a person for reasons of mercy." This paper will examine the history of euthanasia and the issues surrounding assisted suicide. There are as many reasons for supporting assisted suicide as there are reasons to not support it. However one looks at this topic, we will all be confronted with this in one way or another. Medical technology has allowed life to be sustained longer than anyone would have imagined. According to a former church moderator, Walter Farquaharson, the issue of euthanasia "is not an issue any one of us can remove ourselves from. It touches all of us. And if it hasn't, it will (