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There are couple of key things happening at the end that many people don't get. It isn't just that the Swank character was paralyzed, she was a quadraplegic, which for a professional athlete, whose entire being was wrapped up in how her body performed, was at that point in her life, a form of torture. She lost her leg to gangrene. She tried to kill herself by biting her own tongue off. If she had been able to wait longer, she might have recovered.
Frankie (Eastwood) cared for her like a surrogate daughter. He was a devout Catholic for whom killing was an anathema, and he carried the guilt of having become estranged from his own daughter and that of allowing a friend to be blinded. He was, for both of these reasons, overprotective of this boxer/new daughter. He couldn't stand to see her in pain, even to the point of being willing to give up his own life to do what she said she needed. His choice destroyed what was left of him.
This wasn't a movie that promotes euthenasia, it takes no postion at all. These are two well drawn, specific characters who did what they had to do in that situation.
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