It is as well to remember that ‘what goes on all the time’ is the grim process of suspending a sick person by a thread between life and death for an arbitrary time, until the thread breaks. That is slow euthanasia!
In Exit’s internal polling of over 1000 of our members, slow euthanasia was found to be one of the least-preferred methods of dying, and one that is usually avoided when other options exist. Given a choice, people prefer to have control of the dying process. This is not the case with slow euthanasia. It is relatively rare to find someone who wants to spend their last days in a drug-induced coma.
When people decide that their suffering is so great that death is preferable, they want their passing to be quick. This is why slow euthanasia is almost always an option of last resort. It is the method accepted when nothing else is on offer, and when the only alternative is relentless and ongoing suffering.
Another unfortunate consequence of slow euthanasia is the common belief that morphine is the best drug to end life. This reputation is undeserved and comes from the almost-universal use of morphine (or other opioids) in slow euthanasia, where doctors have little choice.
While a single overdose of morphine may cause death, individual sensitivity and tolerance to these drugs make this an uncertain and unpredictable process. Morphine is best used to do the job it is designed to do, control strong pain. There are better euthanasia options available.