ASSISTED SUICIDE | IAS GYAN

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Recently a French citizen died by assisted suicide, his family member has informed that “it was his decision and it was important to him that people know about it,”

About

Assisted suicide and euthanasia both are practices under which a person intentionally ends their life with active assistance from others.
- Both are controversial topics as they involve moral, ethical and religious concerns.
Several European nations, some states in Australia and Colombia in South America allow assisted suicide and euthanasia under specific circumstances.
Euthanasia can further be divided into Active and Passive;
- Passive euthanasia involves simply stopping a life-saving treatment or medical intervention with the consent of the patient or a family member or a close friend representing the patient.
- Active euthanasia, is legal in only a few countries, in this case, some substance/method is used of substances to end the life of the patient.

Status in India

In 2018, the Supreme Court of India legalized passive euthanasia, and highlighted that it was a matter of ‘living will’.
- According to the Court judgment, an adult in his conscious mind is permitted to refuse medical treatment or voluntarily decide not to take medical treatment to embrace death naturally, under certain conditions.
The court laid down a set of guidelines for ‘living will’ and defined passive euthanasia and euthanasia as well.