Context
Recently, a 28-year-old Dutch woman legally ended her life due to her struggle with crippling depression, autism and personality disorder.
French President Presents a Bill on Assisted Dying
- In January 2024, the French President presented a Bill on assisted dying to legalize euthanasia for the terminally ill.
- Living wills implementation lags in India even after the six years of the Supreme Court declaring that Indians have the right to die with dignity.
About Euthanasia
- Refers: The practice under which an individual intentionally ends his/her life to get relief from an incurable condition, or intolerable suffering.
- Types of Euthanasia: There are four types of euthanasia.
- Active euthanasia: It involves an active intervention to end a person’s life with substances or external force, such as administering a lethal injection.
- Passive euthanasia: It refers to withdrawing life support or treatment that is essential to keep a terminally ill person alive.
- Voluntary euthanasia: It takes place with the consent of the patient.
- Involuntary euthanasia: It is administered without the patient’s consent.
Euthanasia In India
- Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug v. Union of India (2011): In this case, the Supreme Court had held that passive euthanasia can be allowed under exceptional circumstances.
- Common Cause vs. Union of India (2018): The Supreme Court allowed passive euthanasia while recognising the living wills of terminally-ill patients who could go into a permanent vegetative state, and issued guidelines regulating this procedure.
- Living Will: A living will is a legal document that specifies the type of medical care that an individual does or does not want in the event they are unable to communicate their wishes.
- It is also known as an advance directive.
- In 2023 the Supreme Court modified the guidelines to make the right to die with dignity more accessible.
Global Trends
- Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium: These Countries allow both euthanasia and assisted suicide for anyone who faces “unbearable suffering” that has no chance of improvement.
- Switzerland: Switzerland has banned euthanasia but allows assisted dying in the presence of a doctor or physician.
- Canada: Canada had announced that euthanasia and assisted dying would be allowed for mentally ill patients by March 2023; however, the decision has been widely criticized, and the move may be delayed.
- United States: USA has different laws in different states. Euthanasia is allowed in some states like Washington, Oregon, and Montana.
- United Kingdom: The United Kingdom considers it illegal and equivalent to manslaughter.
Suicide v/s Euthanasia
- Suicide & euthanasia are conceptually separate. Whether by injuring, intoxication or just about any method, a person committed suicide. Thus, suicide is a deliberate act on the part of the person who commits it.
- Euthanasia, on the other side, involves another individual taking measures to stop the existence of another individual.
Does the Right to Live under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution include the Right to Die too?
- P Rathinam Vs Union of India(1994): The judiciary debated whether the punishment for attempting to commit suicide (section 309 of IPC) was right or wrong.
- In this case, the SC upheld that the liberty to die comes under the liberty to live. Thus, section 309 of the IPC was observed to be constitutionally invalid.
- Gian Kaur Vs State of Punjab (1996): The Supreme Court (SC) stated that the right to life enshrined in the Constitution does not mandate the right to die because suicide or someone choosing to die is an unnatural way of putting an end to one’s life.
- SC brought the validity of section 309 back and made an attempt to suicide an offence again.
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Also Read: Decriminalising Medical Negligence
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April 4, 2024