Intro: In 2005, America was introduced to the interesting case of Terri Schindler Schiavo. Doctors diagnosed her with hypoxic encephalopathy, a neurological disease due to the lack of oxygen reaching the brain, and declared her as being in a persistent vegetative state, an ongoing state of severely impaired consciousness in which the patient is incapable of voluntary motion. Terrisfight.org explains that though Terri was able to breathe on her own, a feeding tube was necessary for proper nourishment and hydration. This feeding tube kept her alive in a permanent vegetative state for over fifteen years, and when it was finally removed under the order of Circuit Court Judge, George W. Greer of the Pinellas-Pasco's Sixth Judicial Court, she died a natural death in thirteen days. But why did it take fifteen years for the tube to be removed? Is that really what she wanted? Hopefully, no one in this room will ever have to face the decision of whether it is the right time to let a family member go, but it is not a stretch to think that one day, one of us may. My goal is that by the end of this speech, you will all have an understanding of the controversy that surrounds passive euthanasia, and hopefully will understand my belief in its ethicalness.

Transition: Euthanasia is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as "the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy."