DUTCH VOTE RAISES QUESTIONS ON EUTHANASIA

Viewpoints about doctor-assisted euthanasia depend largely on whether you are healthy or whether you are suffering a long, painful death. Last week, the lower house of the Dutch parliament voted 104-40 to legalize euthanasia under strict guidelines. The upper house is expected to approve the measure early next year.

Reaction to the Dutch vote was immediate. Many Christian groups condemned the action. There are compelling religious arguments in favor of the sanctity of human life and dignity.

Medical advances have given most of the world's population longer life expectancies. Most of us haven been closely touched by someone whose life has been extended indefinitely because of an operation, implantation of a medical device or life-saving drugs.

As medicine continues to extend our lives, at times it seems less and less attention is being paid to the quality of an existence that relies entirely on medical technology.

The moral question is whether a life is inconvenient or whether a person is capable of giving direction to caregivers in situations where a life can only be sustained artificially. To end one is euthanasia. To allow the other to end is generally regarded as mercy.