EUTHANASIA: RIGHT TO DIE OR PANDORA'S BOX?

(From New Zealand Press Association)

Despite a recent survey showing a clear majority of people support doctor-assisted suicide, euthanasia remains as divisive an issue as ever. RUTH HILL of NZPA reports.

Wellington, Feb 21 - A recent Massey University survey showed more than 70 percent of people supported doctor-assisted suicide for someone with a painful, incurable disease.

However, those against legalising euthanasia warn it could end up targeting the most vulnerable.

Wanganui woman Lesley Martin argues that voluntary euthanasia is about ``allowing life affirming choices, keeping control over your life''.

Ms Martin said in her book published last year, To Die Like a Dog, that she injected her mother Joy with an overdose of morphine the day before she died and then smothered her with a pillow as she died.

Her action followed Joy's words: ``I am scared... only of how it will be... of lying there, going inch by inch. It's so cruel. We don't let our animals suffer like that. It must be better to die like a dog than to die like a …