One of the loudest objections from the fright-wing about euthanasia is that supporters of the procedure advocate "putting down" the elderly and infirm "like animals". The implication is that we somehow see them as subhuman, something to be exterminated. Analogies to Nazi Germany often flow fast and furious. I contend that likening euthanasia to putting pets to sleep is, in fact, one of the strongest arguments for euthanasia.
As anyone who's had a pet put to sleep knows (and I'm sure most people reading this have), it's not exactly a pleasant experience. Vets go out of their way to remind you why you're doing it and help you deal with the inevitable guilt. They remind you that it's better this way, that the pet had no chance of recovery, and would have been completely and totally miserable until it passed away naturally.
So why, then, should not afford the elderly and sick among us the same courtesy? Often, they do wind up in states from which they have no hope of recovery, are in constant pain, and are in need of constant care. Why does the right-wing believe that these people should be prevented from being assisted into the hereafter, if that is what they want? Why do they believe that these people should be forced to suffer with no hope of respite, and probably die in agony, instead of being offered the choice of a humane, painless death?
So yes, if they so choose or chose, the elderly, vegetative, and terminally sick should be put down "like animals". After all, we put down pets because we love them and don't want them to suffer with no hope of being healed or die painfully. This sounds like a pretty good death to me, as deaths go.
Of course, the right-wing is against this for a very simple reason. They're against it because it's another front in their war for government control of peoples' bodies. Abortion, contraceptives, drugs, euthanasia... They're all part of the ongoing right-wing attempt to transfer ownership and control of your body from you to the government. After all, if the government can order you to live when you don't want to... They can also order you to die when you don't want to.