Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. This practice is illegal in most countries. A country that has recently made Euthanasia legal is Italy. Italy experienced their first case of physician assisted suicide in 2019.

A man named Federico Carboni became the first case of euthanasia in Italy. Who was Federico Carboni? Federico Carboni is a man who had to overcome a lot throughout his lifetime. He overcame a series of legal challenges throughout his life before finally ending it. For more than a year he sought to end his life through physician assisted suicide. Twelve years before he became the first case of euthanasia, he got into a traffic accident, and he became paralyzed. He had to face a series of financial and bureaucratic hurdles.

He became Italy’s first legal assisted suicide on a Thursday afternoon in his small home in Italy. He was surrounded by the people who helped him achieve his goal. He battled on to reach his goal even as the condition of his health was deteriorating. Carboni didn’t want to spend his life paralyzed. He sought a physician assisted death to end the new life he had been living over the past decade.

The idea of euthanasia is extremely controversial. Some people may argue that it’s wrong because mercy killing is “killing” no matter what even if a doctor carries it out. Other people think that if a person wants to die by a doctor, then it should be their choice because it’s their body. I’m somewhere in between on the issue. Is mercy killing something I agree with? To an extent, I do believe some causes of euthanasia should be carried out. If the person has been sick for at least 10 years, then I believe that looking into a physician assisted suicide could be a resolution to their problem. I don’t believe euthanasia should be used on everyone, though. I also believe that only certain sicknesses should be allowed the right to a physician assisted suicide.