EUTHANASIA: DYING WITH DIGNITY IS ALSO A HUMAN RIGHT
By Sakshi Singh
The first usage of the term ‘ Euthanasia’ belongs to the historian named Suetonius who described how Emperor Augustus, died immediately and without any suffering in the hands of his wife, Livia, experiencing the form of ‘euthanasia’ he had wished for. This term was used for the first time in a medical framework by a person named Francis Bacon in the 17th century. He compared this term to an easy, painless and a happy death during the course of which it was the physician’s duty to lessen the physical as well as the mental sufferings of the body. In recent times, this term has been a subject to a lot of debate and controversy, with some people putting forward the point that life for some terminally-ill patients is so painful that it is not worth living and that ‘ euthanasia’ be made legal in order for people to end their life in a dignified manner without any suffering. And then there is another set of society which considers it to be morally wrong and a grave violation of the law of god which cannot be rationalized under any circumstances. This article will thus, deal with the various aspects of the term ‘euthanasia’, its various kinds and India’s stand on passive euthanasia.
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