The medical profession operates on the assumption that there is a morally relevant difference between killing someone and letting someone die. In this essay I will provide several philosophical perspectives on the topic before offering my opinion. There are a number of different terms applied to the concepts of killing someone and letting someone die. Typically these are: active and passive euthanasia and voluntary and involuntary euthanasia. Active euthanasia, sometimes called "positive" euthanasia, involves a deliberate act, such as lethal injection, that causes a person's death. On the other hand, passive or “negative” euthanasia is conventionally defined as the omission of an act. For example, when a doctor decides not to administer life-prolonging drugs or chooses to turn off a life support machine, it is called passive euthanasia. However, these two types of euthanasia are not strictly in binary opposition to each other. While active euthanasia leaves little room for ambiguity, refusal of treatment that ultimately leads to death is clearly d...