The growing movement for the legalization of assisted suicide/euthanasia requires analysis & understanding. While the argument in favor of euthanasia is forceful & attractive due to its appeal to deep-seated human & cultural values such as relief of suffering & self-determination, it is misdirected & illusionary. It rests on the illusion that a society can safely put in the hands of physicians the power to take life & further assumes that the relief of suffering is the highest goal in life.