EUTHANASIA COMES FROM two Greek words meaning "good death." When English scholar and statesman Sir Francis Bacon coined the term in the early seventeenth century, he used it to mean the sort of "fair and easy passage from life" that people hoped to have. A good death, of course, can mean different things to different people, just as a good life can. In present times as well as in Bacon's day, however, most people would probably say that it means dying peacefully and without pain, at home or in other pleasant surroundings, surrounded by loving family and friends.

The search for a "good death"

Today, growing numbers of people are unable to achieve this classic "good death." Advances in medical science, which added nearly thirty years to the average life expectancy in the United States during the twentieth century, have also prolonged the process of dying. High-tech medical...