Euthanasia Project Standard VII, Key Element B Investigate state and international policies on euthanasia. Explore at least five (5)alternative ways to deal with this end of life issue, i.e. a living...

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Euthanasia

Introduction
Euthanasia is an activity of where in a person, mostly a physician end the life of a person who
is in acute pain and suffering. The laws regarding the euthanasia are different in various
countries because of the different principals and ethical standards. Various categories of
euthanasia are: involuntary and voluntary. Voluntary euthanasia is regarded as legal in some
countries and U.S. states while Non-voluntary euthanasia is considered illegal in all countries
and is regarded as murder. Euthanasia continues to be the one of the most researched area of
the present day medical ethics.
State and National Laws for Euthanasia
It is illegal to practice euthanasia in most states of the United States. A variant of euthanasia
called Physician Aid in Dying (PAD) or aided suicide is considered as legal in Vermont,
Washington, Montana and Oregon. The difference between PAD and euthanasia is the
difference between administer of the lethal dose of medication. Euthanasia requires the
physician or the third party administering the lethal dose while in PAD the patient self-
administers the medication who also determines whether and time. PAD legalization resulted
in the ballot and legislation bills in US for the last twenty years.
Various countries which have legalised euthanasia in its various forms are mentioned as
follows:
Belgium
Euthanasia was legalised by the Belgian parliament September 2002. It was proved in a
survey that the people who died from the euthanasia were mostly young male and cancer
patients. The patients who were killed were suffering from unbearable suffering and pain. It
was seen that they were terminally ill and required relief.
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Colombia
In May, 2010, it was ruled by the Colombia's Constitutional Court that any physician or
relative who wants to end the life of terminally ill patient suffering from acute pain and
intolerable anguish should not be responsible for criminal charges. The definition of
terminally ill patient as given by the court was “person who is suffering from a grave and
incurable disease like kidney failure, AIDS, liver failure or cancer which are terminal in most
cases and cause of extreme suffering”. However, the authorization of euthanasia is not
applicable to patients who are suffering from degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's,
Parkinson's, or Lou Gehrig's disease.
Luxembourg
The parliament of Luxembourg passed the bill which legalised euthanasia in February 2008
Later on, it was mandated that the...