Euthanasia is the practice of ending the life of a person or being because they are perceived to be living an intolerable life, in a painless or minimally painful manner through lethal injection, drug overdose or life support withdrawal. Euthanasia is a controversial issue due to conflicting religious and humanist views. Voluntary euthanasia occurs with the fully informed request for a decision by a competent adult patient or that of his or her surrogate. Non-voluntary euthanasia occurs without fully informed consent and without fully informed request for a decision—competent adult patient or that of his or her surrogate. Involuntary euthanasia occurs following opposition from a patient or his or her surrogate. An example of this would be if a patient with decision-making capacity is told that they will be put down. The Slippery Slope Many people fear that if voluntary euthanasia were to become legal, it wouldn't be long before involuntary euthanasia began to occur. This is called the euthanasia slippery slope argument. In general terms, it states that if we allow something relatively harmless today, we may start a trend that will lead to the acceptance of something currently unthinkable. Those who oppose this argument say that properly drafted legislation can draw a solid barrier beyond the slippery slope. SMH media reportsNovember, 2002 an article entitled Endgame in Australia provides a summary of the legislation across Australia regarding euthanasia, in A further article entitled The Unbearable Pain of Being reported in The Age on 31 May 2002 gives a opinion regarding the slippery slope topic, with the Dutch experience in which euthanasia can be performed with the authority of two separate psychiatric reports. The Catholic Church does not approve of any method of purposely killing someone, even a terminally ill person. Catholicism teaches that people should have food and water until they die naturally. When a person suffers from a terminal illness or other life-ending medical condition, I believe palliative care professionals can help these people alleviate their suffering without the need for people choosing to consider any form of euthanasia. When the power to take life is taken into man's hands, we can use it for evil purposes or abuse it. Someone might call a person with a disability unfit to live and choose to kill them. Additionally, older adults may not want to be a burden on their family and commit suicide. Euthanasia is a slippery slope. Accepting euthanasia weakens society's respect for life.