The first has never been morally or legally required, and is very dubious ethically; and the last is murder, and results in the corruption of patients, doctors, families, and institutions.
The really humane option is a skilled, ethically-run hospice program --- and the best, if you can manage it, is in-home hospice services.
There is no medical reason for intractable pain in terminal patients. This was true even 30 years ago, and even moreso today; although one doctor told me, "I have never seen intractable pain; but I have seen intractable doctors and nurses."
The Oregon record over the past 10 years shows that virtually nobody who chose suicide, chose it because of pain. It would have been "absolutely" nobody, if they had gotten the appropriate narcotic and analgesic medication.
You might want to look at the argument that the suicide option works against palliative care , and these insights by an experienced medical practitioner as well ("What Have We Learned ABout Death With Dignity in regon in the Past Ten years?"). Of the many arguments that have been made in favor of suicide, the ones that are provably false are the ones about inevitable futile high-tech expense and/or pain in terminal cases.
An excellent post! My father lost the battle to cancer in the hospice setting. I have high regard to this method of care. The last hours for my father was a time of prayer, Communion, and close family love. I wish others could experience the last hours of a fellow human being in the way we did. There was little pain when he went.
Exceelllent post. My wife, an RN who works with the elderly, would agree wholeheartedly with that doctor.