Ground Realities of Passive Euthanasia in India

Syllabus: GS2/ Polity and Governance, GS4/ Ethics

Context

  • The debate around the ethics and law that defines passive euthanasia was reignited after the Supreme Court dismissed the plea in Harish Rana’s case, who has been in a permanent vegetative state since 2013.
What is Euthanasia?
– Euthanasia, is referred to as mercy killing or physician-assisted death i.e. deliberately ending someone’s life, usually to relieve suffering.
– Ethicists differentiate between active and passive euthanasia.
Active Euthanasia
– Also known as assisted suicide, it refers to deliberately and actively doing something to end a person’s life.
– This is done through methods like administering a lethal injection or giving an overdose of medication.
– Active euthanasia directly causes the patient’s death. It is illegal in most countries, including India.
Passive Euthanasia
– It involves intentionally letting a patient die by withholding artificial life support, such as a ventilator or feeding tube.
– This can include removing a patient from life support or not providing treatment for a terminal illness.
– Passive euthanasia is legal in some countries, including India, under specific circumstances and with proper consent.

Status of Euthanasia in India

  • In 2011, the Supreme Court for the first time recognised the legality of passive euthanasia in the case of Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug v Union of India.
  • In 2018, the Supreme Court recognised the legality of ‘passive euthanasia’ for terminally-ill patients, holding that the ‘right to die with dignity’ forms a part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. 
  • The court also laid down detailed guidelines for passive euthanasia, both in cases where the patient left an ‘advance directive’ or a ‘living will’ stating that life support should be withdrawn if they fall terminally ill, and in cases where no such directive was left behind.
  • Among the guidelines was the condition that the living will must be signed in the presence of two witnesses and signed by a Judicial Magistrate. 
  • In the case of patients without a living will, the family has to give their consent for withdrawal of life support.
    • The court further eased norms for this process in January 2023.

Arguments in Favour of Euthanasia

  • End of Pain: Euthanasia provides a way to relieve the intolerably extreme pain and suffering of an individual. It relieves the terminally ill people from a lingering death.
  • Respecting Person’s Choice: The essence of human life is to live a dignified life and to force the person to live in an undignified way is against the person’s choice. Thus, it expresses the choice of a person which is a fundamental principle. 
  • Dignified Death: Article 21 of the Indian Constitution clearly provides for living with dignity. A person has a right to live a life with at least minimum dignity and if that standard is falling below that minimum level then a person should be given a right to end his life. 
  • Addressing Mental Agony: The motive behind this is to help rather than harm. It not only relieves the unbearable pain of a patient but also relieves the relatives of a patient from the mental agony.

Ethical Challenges

  • Medical Ethics: Medical ethics call for nursing, caregiving and healing and not ending the life of the patient.
    • In the present time, medical science is advancing at a great pace making even the most incurable diseases curable today.
  • Moral Wrong: Taking a life is morally and ethically wrong. The value of life can never be undermined.

Concluding remarks

  • Euthanasia challenges traditional views on death and medicine. Public discourse that considers religious, ethical, and cultural perspectives is crucial.
  • Also there is a need for strict guidelines and safeguards are needed to prevent abuse or coercion.
  • Ensuring access to quality palliative care, which focuses on comfort and symptom relief, should be a priority alongside any discussion of euthanasia. 

Sources: IE

 

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