So for<p>&gt;  well... yeah, but isn&#x27;t that always the motive, what&#x27;s the difference now?<p>See the reply of djokkataja, it covers it pretty well.<p>&gt;  And for (2) &quot;sometimes, mistakes are made and people die who shouldn&#x27;t have&quot; - is that what you also think when it comes to, say, the death penalty?<p>There is a world of difference. Now let me say that we in the Netherlands have no death penalty, but let&#x27;s take the model in America vs the process of euthanasie in the netherlands.<p>Deathpenalty -&gt; Subject is not willing, evaluation is done by non trained experts (jury) on issues of law (ie guilty)<p>Euthanasie -&gt; Subject is willing, evaluation is done by trained experts (at least 2 GP&#x27;s) on medical issues.<p>In the deathpenalty scenario the worst you can do is kill someone innocent. In the euthanasie scenario the worst you can do is kill someone with a huge medical condition that for all appearances it seems to be terminal with an unbearable standard of living (ie pain).<p>Comparing the two is cheap rhetoric as far as I&#x27;m concerned.