Euthanasia (Greek word ‘Eu’ meaning good and ‘thanatos’ meaning death ‘good death,’ ‘die well,’ ‘mercy killing).

 

Euthanasia (Greek word ‘Eu’ meaning good and ‘thanatos’ meaning death ‘good death,’ ‘die well,’ ‘mercy killing).

It may be defined as the doctrine or theory that in certain circumstances when owing to disease, senility or the like, a person’s life has permanently ceased to be either agreeable or useful, the sufferer should be painlessly killed either by himself or by another.

It can be classified based on the acts of induction as active and passive and based on the will of the patient as voluntary, involuntary, and non-voluntary euthanasia.

Active euthanasia (positive euthanasia):

It is a positive merciful act, to end useless suffering or a meaningless existence. It is an act of commis­sion that is when a doctor takes steps to end patient’s life e.g., giving large doses of drugs or giving a lethal injection to hasten death.

Passive euthanasia (negative euthanasia):

It means discontinuing or not using extraordinary life sustaining measures to prolong life. It includes acts of omission such as failure to resuscitate terminally ill or hopelessly incapacitated patient or a severely defective infant.

Voluntary euthanasia: When the person who is killed has requested to be killed with his consent

Non-voluntary: When the person who is killed made no request to be killed such as in persons incapable of making their wishes like persons in irreversible coma.

Involuntary euthanasia: When the person who is killed made an expressed wish to the contrary.

 

Assisted suicide:

If someone provides an individual with the information, guidance, and means to take his or her own life with the intention that they will be used for this purpose. When it is a doctor, who helps another person to kill himself or herself it is called physician assisted suicide. There are both protagonist and antagonist views on euthanasia. Some people advocated euthanasia on the ground that the patient, if willing should be allowed to die a dignified death instead of pro­longing the same through the torture of pain and disease.  Others claim that medical science has made such a rapid progress and its capabilities are so great that the disease, which seems incurable today, will become cura­ble tomorrow. They remind the doctor of the Code of Medical Ethics and Hippocratic Oath by which the doctor swears to preserve the life and prevent further damage.

 

Laws in Australia:

Northern Territory legislative assembly of Australia passed this Act on May 24, 1995. The features of this bill were: (i) Patient should be of sound mind, terminally ill and at least 18 years old (ii) Patient must expe­rience unacceptable pain, suffering or distress (iii) Four doctors must be involved in the patient’s decision to die (iv) Attending physician must believe that patient has come to his decision voluntarily and he must inform the patient about his illness, prognosis and treatment available (v) Second physician must confirm the diagnosis made by the first physician and the presence of psychiatrist is must.

 

Laws and practices in netherlands:

In the Netherlands, the word euthanasia has a more limited meaning; it only refers to the deli­berate termi­nation of the life of a person on his request by another person that is active voluntary euthanasia. Due to this Netherlands has attracted so much attention and raised so much contro­versy.

Laws in United Kingdom: The criminal law in U.K. regards as a potential offence of homicide any wrongful act which results in the loss of life. When life is taken deliberately, the person is charged with murder. If a doctor res­ponds to a request from a patient to end his life and adminis­­­ters a lethal injection, the doctor will have acted with the necessary mens rea for mur­der. It makes no difference from the legal point of view that the patient gave his consent to the doctor’s act. Consent is no defense to a charge of murder nor does the doctor’s motive make any difference. The fact that there was a case of mercy killing does not affect the status as one of murder. The criminal law does not require doc­tors to persist in the treatment of a patient when no medical purpose is served by such persistence. All that is needed from legal point of view is that the patient be given appropriate medical treatment.

Scenario in USA: Right to die judgment was given the state law prohibiting doctors for helping dying patients committing suicide. The United States assisted suicide bans have in recent years been reexamined and reaffirmed. It seems that because of advances in medicine and technology, the Americans today are increasingly likely to die in institutions, from chronic illnesses. There have been significant changes in state laws and in the attitu­des, these laws reflect. Many states, for example, now permit “living wills,” surrogate health care decision mak­ing, and the withdrawal or refusal of life sus­taining medical treatment.

Legal status in India: India has not produced any legislation on euthanasia.

Article 21 of the constitution of India says that every individual has a right to live, as a natural right embodied in it. Recent Supreme Court judgment has clarified further on that. It says that article 21 guarantees ‘right to live’ but does not in any way imply ‘right to die’ and hence extinction of natural life is illegal. As per this verdict suicide, assisted suicide or euthanasia is not permissible. On 9 March 2018, the Supreme Court of India legalized passive euthanasia by means of the withdrawal of life support to patients in a permanent vegetative state. This decision was made in Aruna Shanbaug case, who had been in a Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) until her death in 2015.

This judgment was passed in wake of Pinki Virani's plea to the Supreme Court in December 2009 under the Constitutional provision of Next Friend. The Supreme Court specified two irreversible conditions to permit Passive Euthanasia Law in its 2011 Law:

(I) The brain-dead for whom the ventilator can be switched off

(II)Those in a Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) for whom the feed can be tapered out and pain-managing palliatives are added, according to laid-down international specifications.

#euthanasia #mercy killing