Euthanasia Is Ethical Or Not?

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Recommended: the relative moral, religious and legal issues associated with the Euthanasia

Of late Euthanasia has been a highly contested issue among media, politicians, public and medical professionals. In spite of being banned in elsewhere in the world than Switzerland and Netherlands and some states of USA, there is emerging demand and mixed reaction among public regarding the legalisation of Euthanasia. Indian judiciary has recently declared a landmark decision declaring active Euthanasia illegal, contrary to constitution and hence punishable. Although passive euthanasia has been legalised keeping it subject to a specific set of regulations. This project deals with the ethical dimension of Euthanasia, the Indian scenario vis-à-vis the global scenario. It puts forth arguments from both sides and reviews some of the literary works regarding this issue. However, though it is difficult to give an objective answer to the question ‘whether Euthanasia is ethical or not?’ as there will always be debate on that; this project strives towards giving a clear understanding of the sub issues regarding this issue in order for the reader to form a constructive opinion basing on it. Introduction: The term euthanasia which has its origin in Greece means ‘Easy Death’, though generally the term ‘Euthanasia’ refers to the practice of intentionally ending one’s life with or without that person’s consent in order to relieve that person from prolonged suffering and pain of terminal illness. The concept of euthanasia was evolved in the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome. It was both practiced and enforced on those days. Later on the middle age saw the Christian opposition of ‘Mercy Killing’ and “physician-assisted suicide’. Afterwards, the era of renaissance and revolutions experienced strong protests against the middle age Christi... ... middle of paper ... ...t or wrong, is failing totally in understanding the question under consideration. Conclusion: Euthanasia seems to be a rational way to spare a person from prolonged suffering due to terminal illness. It is a debatable point that whether right to die is a natural right or not. Every creature in the nature loves to protect itself and live longer, thus some strongly protest against Euthanasia by saying that it contradicts the natural law and hence is unnatural. A lot of terminally ill people who ask for Euthanasia are often not in a sane state of mind due to tremendous pain and suffering. Thus it seems only logical to legalise passive euthanasia on the basis of ‘Patient’s Best Interest’ rather than ‘Substituted Judgement’ or ‘Patient’s will’. This will ensure the appropriate practice of right to life with dignity of a person suffering from prolonged terminal illness.

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