This document discusses euthanasia and assisted suicide. It defines euthanasia as the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable disease. It outlines the types of euthanasia, including voluntary, involuntary, and non-voluntary. It discusses active euthanasia, which is bringing about death through action, versus passive euthanasia, which is bringing about death through omission of treatment. The document also discusses the legal status of euthanasia in different countries and states.

1. Assignment: Euthanasia
Assigner: Sir Asmat ullah
Assignee: Ihsan ullah
Roll No. 11
LLB First Year
Date:03/05/2016

2. Euthanasia(Mercy Killing, Assisted Suicide)
The painless killing of a patient suffering
from an incurable,
and painful disease or in an irreversible
coma.

3. Euthanasia is the painless ending of a person’s life for reason of mercy,
Physician assisted suicide is the act in which a physician provides the mean for suicide of
the incurably ill, The patient must take the final action that causes his/her death such as
swallowing lethal drugs.
The word Euthanasia Originate from the “Greek” Word
(Eu- means good and thanatos means death)
According to world medical association the euthanasia means “Deliberate and intentional action
With a clear intention to end another person life under the following condition,,
The subject is a competent informed person with incurable illness who voluntary asked for ending
his life; The person who is acting known about the state of this person and about his wish to die
and his doing this action with an intention to end life of this person; The action is done with
compassion and without any personal profit.
"The intentional putting to death of a person with an incurable or painful disease intended as an
act of mercy." Active euthanasia is: A mode of ending life in which the intent is to cause the
patient's death in a single act (also called mercy killing)."

4. A Brief History of Euthanasia
I’ll Give No deadly medicine to any one if asked, Nor suggest any such
counsel (Hippocrates Father of Modern medicine “400 B.C”)
I’ll not give a lethal drugs to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such
a plane. (Hippocratic oath)
In the 1300s , suicide as well as helping people to kill themselves were
considered as a criminal act.
In the 1930s euthanasia was practiced for the first time by German
physicians.
In the 20th century, lot of organizations were formed to address the
concerns regarding euthanasia. (voluntary euthanasia society)

5. Reason For Euthanasia
Advanced terminal illness that is causing unbearable
suffering to the individual. This is the most common
reason to seek an early end.
Grave physical handicap which is so restricting that
the individual cannot, even after due consideration,
counseling and re-training, tolerate such a limited
existence. This is a fairly rare reason for suicide --
most impaired people cope remarkably well with their
affliction -- but there are some who would, at a certain
point, rather die.

6. TYPES OF
EUTHANASIA
There are 3 types of euthanasia
1. voluntary euthanasia
2. Involuntary euthanasia
3. non-voluntary euthanasia

7. 1. VOLUNTARY
EUTHANASIA
1. euthanasia performed with the patient's consent is called voluntary
euthanasia.
2. Voluntary euthanasia is the practice of ending a life in a painless
manner. Voluntary euthanasia (VE) and physician-assisted suicide
(PAS) have been the focus of great controversy in recent years.
3. Voluntary euthanasia is at the request of a fully competent person
who
wishes to die.

8. 2. Involuntary euthanasia
1. which performed on a patient against their will.
2. Involuntary euthanasia occurs when euthanasia is performed on a
person who would be able to provide informed consent, but does not,
either because they do not want to die, or because they were not
asked.
3. Involuntary euthanasia occurs when a dying person could have been
but was not asked for their consent, or when a request for continued
treatment is refused. Attaching DNR notices to the medical notes of
elderly or disabled patients without their knowledge can be
considered a form of involuntary euthanasia

9. 3. non-voluntary
euthanasia
1. where the patient is unable to give their informed consent, for
example child euthanasia)
2. Non-voluntary euthanasia (sometimes known as mercy killing) is
euthanasia conducted when the explicit consent of the individual
concerned is unavailable, such as when the person is in a persistent
vegetative state, or in the case of young children.
3. Non-Voluntary euthanasia takes place when a person is unable to
consent due to age, physical and/or mental incapacity. An example of
this would be the decision to stop artificial feeding and hydration for
someone in a Persistent Vegetative State.

10. What is the difference between
voluntary, Involuntary and non
voluntary euthanasia?
Voluntary euthanasia: When the person who is killed has requested to
be killed.
Non-voluntary: When the person who is killed made no request and
gave no consent.
Involuntary euthanasia: When the person who is killed made an
expressed wish to the contrary.

11. Euthanasia Can Be Active and Passive
Active Euthanasia:  Active euthanasia describes cases where an action is
performed with
the intention of causing death. An example of this would be giving a
lethal injection. This is currently illegal in the U.K.
Active euthanasia, which is defined as the intentional act of causing the death
of a patient experiencing great suffering, is illegal in France, whereas allowing
patients to die is authorized by law under certain conditions
2. Passive Euthanasia:  Passive euthanasia describes cases where death
is intentionally caused
by inaction. An example of this would be withdrawing or withholding
artificial nutrition or hydration or the use of a ventilator.
"Passive euthanasia" is usually defined as withdrawing medical treatment with
the deliberate intention of causing the patient's death. For example, if a patient
requires kidney dialysis to survive, and the doctors disconnect the dialysis
machine, the patient will presumably die fairly soon.

12. What is the difference between passive and
active euthanasia?
Active euthanasia is when death is brought about by an act - for
example when a person is killed by being given an overdose of pain-
killers
. Passive euthanasia is when death is brought about by an omission - i.e.
when someone lets the person die. This can be by withdrawing or
withholding treatment
The moral difference between killing and letting die. Many people make
a moral distinction between active and passive euthanasia. They think
that it is acceptable to withhold treatment and allow a patient to die,
but that it is never acceptable to kill a patient by a deliberate act.

13. Legal
Let me point out here for those who might not know it that suicide is no
longer a crime anywhere in the English-speaking world. (It used to be,
and was punishable by giving all the dead person's money and goods to
the government.) Attempted suicide is no longer a crime, although under
health laws a person can in most states be forcibly placed in a psychiatric
hospital for three days for evaluation.
But giving assistance in suicide remains a crime, except in the
Netherlands in recent times under certain conditions, and it has never
been a crime in Switzerland, Germany, Norway and Uruguay. The rest of
the world punishes assistance in suicide for both the mentally ill and the
terminally ill, although the state of Oregon recently (Nov. l994) passed
by ballot Measure 16 a limited physician-assisted suicide law. in (Feb.
l995) this is held up in the law courts.

14. Even if a hopelessly ill person is requesting
assistance in dying for the most compassionate
reasons, and the helper is acting from the most
noble of motives, it remains a crime in the
Anglo-American world. Punishments range
from fines to fourteen years in prison. It is this
catch- all prohibition which I and others wish to
change. In a caring society, under the rule of
law, we claim that there must be exceptions.

15. ETHICAL ISSUES
Whether the issue is euthanasia or physician’s assisted death, the heart of
the controversy is whether there are any morally justifiable reasons to
kill oneself, and since ancient times philosophers have weighed in on this
issue. We will look at the views of three classic philosophers on the
subject. Next, when we turn to the contemporary moral debate regarding
end-of-life situations, we find a special challenge. On the one hand,
virtually all parties agree that certain types of death-assistance measures
are justified—such as passive euthanasia. On the other hand, virtually all
parties also agree that there are limits to exactly what can be done to end
someone’s life—for example, you cannot euthanize someone who
doesn’t want to die. Thus, the challenge is to find some criteria by which
to distinguish acceptable from unacceptable death-assistance measures.
We will look at three possible criteria for making that distinction.

16. The Legal Status of Euthanasia
In the U.S., individual states enact their own laws regarding murder and
homicide, and, accordingly, it is for each state to decide for itself how to
handle end-of-life situations. Passive euthanasia is legal in all states,
where the medical profession itself establishes guidelines for what types
of treatment can be withheld from dying patients. As of now, though, no
state permits active euthanasia, and only three state permits assisted
suicide, namely, Oregon, Montana and Washington. Oregon was the first,
and because of its uniqueness, other states look to it as a test case for
what the effects of such a policy might be elsewhere. Enacted in 1994,
the specific guidelines of Oregon’s

17. “Death With Dignity Act” are rather strict, and include the following
conditions: (1) the person must be suffering from a terminal disease
(with less than six months to live) and voluntarily express orally in
writing his or her wish to die; (2) the person’s decision must be an
informed one regarding his or her prognosis and the alternatives to
assisted death; (3) after the patient’s initial request he or she must wait 15
days before receiving a prescription for the death-causing medication,
and at that time the physician will offer the patient an opportunity to
rescind the request. Oregon keeps detailed records of the patients who
avail themselves of the “Death with Dignity Act”

18. I Came on Conclusion that the Euthanasia is wrong in many
ways. It degrades the moral character of patients and doctors
that do not give importance to the life given by our creator,
God. It also opposes the constitutionalized law in countries,
where euthanasia is illegal. Furthermore, it desecrates the
ethics of medicine. Finally it doesn’t end life with dignity but
with disgrace. Euthanasia is both a crime and immoral act,
because it practices murder and an immoral act because it
deprives God’s sovereignty.