The BBC reports (“Italian man…“) on a court case in which a paralyzed man suffering from muscular dystrophy is requesting that “his artificial respirator turned off and to be given sedatives to ease his pain until he dies.” Euthanasia is illegal in Italy as it in the United States. On the other hand, euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide have been legalized in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland. Prime Minister Romano Prodi and his center left government—as well as much of the Italian nation—is heavily divided over the issue.