Torcaso also defended Kevorkian, saying that "he practically exudes compassion."

"I have the greatest admiration and respect for [Kevorkian]," he said. "He sees no value in suffering."

Torcaso said he believes "that no person has any right to tell a suffering person how much pain the afflicted one should or must endure."

Balch also stated that his organization is opposed to euthanasia because it is "convinced that the right to die will very soon become a duty to die, threatening the most vulnerable at the edges of our society."

Another argument Balch posed against euthanasia is the fear it instills in the elderly.

"In the atmosphere of managed health care and the impending retirement of the babyboomers, pressures are already strong to deny life-saving treatment to older people," he said.

Not Dead Yet members agreed that the elderly are another group susceptible to euthanasia propositions and pressures.

"Health care services are going to mean financial loss to the HMOs and that's going to be a dangerous thing," she said. "I know of seniors who have to choose between food and medication."

But Torcaso said that "the indignities of aging" override any positive side to continued living.

"The ravages of serious illness--incontinence, disability, lack of ability to eat or swallow--can rob a person of any desire to continue what the patient considers to be a life with no further value to him," he said.

Torcaso added that assisted suicide is not specifically prohibited by the Constitution and therefore should be legal.