Terminally ill people who die with the help of a doctor, die "peacefully", says a doctor from the US state of Oregon, where euthanasia is legal. Peter Reagan's affidavit has been submitted to the Supreme Court of Appeal, which on Friday will hear arguments in the "Right to Die" case brought by the late Capetonian Robert Stransham-Ford.In April last year Stransham-Ford approached the Pretoria High Court to ask that a doctor be allowed to help him end his life. He said the pain, nausea, cancer and grogginess caused by morphine violated his right to dignity.Judge Hans Fabricius ruled that a doctor be allowed to help him end his life and face no criminal or professional sanction but Stransham-Ford died hours before the judgment.The Health Professions Council of SA, the Minister of Health, the Minister of Justice and the Director of Public Prosecutions have appealed the ruling - concerned that, if assisted suicide islegalised, it could be used to get rid of vulnerable ill people who are burden to their families or kill off people who are too sick to make clear decisions.The state argues that the constitution guarantees the right to life, not death.The Centre for Applied Legal Studies has taken the legally unusual step of asking the Supreme Court of Appeal to admit new evidence, including Reagan's experience of assisting patients to die legally in the state of Oregon.The court will decide whether to hear testimony from Reagan and two other international euthanasia experts.The state and friends of the court opposed to doctor-assisted suicide have argued palliative care - which is good, home-based or hospice care for pain management and emotional support - was sufficient for the dying.Reagan states that after the law was legalised in Oregon, palliative care remained the most popular way to treat dying patients.But he said it was not enough for some patients."In my experience, aid in dying [assisted suicide] was an important addition to palliative care for the relatively small number of patients who wanted it."He said he "found providing aid in dying to be...draining each time I was involved".Doctors for Life has said euthanasia is contrary to medical ethics for doctors or nurses and safeguards cannot prevent abuse of legal euthanasia. They argue sometimes the drugs can cause convulsions or distress to dying patients and families.On Friday the SCA will hear the case and decide if Reagan' s affidavit and extra evidence can be heard in court. The case is likely to end up in the Constitutional Court...