86-397: Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug (1 June 1948 – 18 May 2015), was an Indian nurse who was at the centre of attention in a court case on euthanasia after spending over 41 years in a vegetative state as a result of a sexual assault. In 1973, while working as a junior nurse at King Edward Memorial Hospital , Parel , Mumbai , Shanbaug was sexually assaulted by a hospital janitor, and remained in
172-457: A French physician and professor of medicine, and Michael Boudewijns (1601–1681), a physician and teacher. Other voices argued for euthanasia, such as John Donne in 1624, and euthanasia continued to be practised. In 1678, the publication of Caspar Questel's De pulvinari morientibus non-subtrahend , (" On the pillow of which the dying should not be deprived "), initiated debate on the topic. Questel described various customs which were employed at
258-511: A Shiv Sena-led government since 2022. The chief ministers and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet. Ministers are responsible to the House in which they sit; they make statements in that House and take questions from members of that House. For most senior ministers this is usually the directly elected Legislative Assembly rather than
344-401: A climate of anti-Catholic sentiment generally, regarding issues such as birth control, eugenics, and population control. However, the petition did not result in any legal changes. Historically, the euthanasia debate has tended to focus on a number of key concerns. According to euthanasia opponent Ezekiel Emanuel , proponents of euthanasia have presented four main arguments: a) that people have
430-541: A desire to artificially hasten their death. In addition, it allowed for infants to be euthanised if they were sufficiently deformed, and permitted guardians to request euthanasia on behalf of their wards. The proposed legislation also imposed penalties on physicians who refused to perform euthanasia when requested: a 6–12-month prison term and a fine of between $ 200 and $ 1,000. The proposal proved to be controversial. It engendered considerable debate and failed to pass, having been withdrawn from consideration after being passed to
516-652: A discussion of euthanasia presented in 2003 by the European Association of Palliative Care (EPAC) Ethics Task Force, the authors offered: "Medicalized killing of a person without the person's consent, whether nonvoluntary (where the person is unable to consent) or involuntary (against the person's will), is not euthanasia: it is murder. Hence, euthanasia can be voluntary only." Although the EPAC Ethics Task Force argued that both non-voluntary and involuntary euthanasia could not be included in
602-408: A doctor at the request of a patient". The Dutch law, however, does not use the term 'euthanasia' but includes the concept under the broader definition of "assisted suicide and termination of life on request". Euthanasia is categorised in different ways, which include voluntary , non-voluntary , and involuntary . Voluntary euthanasia is when a person wishes to have their life ended and is legal in
688-493: A fatal dose of morphine and cocaine to hasten his death. At the time he was suffering from cardio-respiratory failure, and the decision to end his life was made by his physician, Lord Dawson . Although this event was kept a secret for over 50 years, the death of George V coincided with proposed legislation in the House of Lords to legalise euthanasia. A 24 July 1939 killing of a severely disabled infant in Nazi Germany
774-468: A file photo of him, Virani's search failed. Other reports claimed he had subsequently died of AIDS or tuberculosis. Shortly after Shanbaug's death was announced, however, Sohanlal was tracked down by Mumbai-based journalist Dnyanesh Chavan from the Marathi daily Sakal to his father-in-law's village of Parpa in western Uttar Pradesh . He was found to be still living, married with a family, and working as
860-525: A genuine euthanasia. He explains that the Nazi version of "euthanasia" was based on the work of Adolf Jost , who published The Right to Death (Das Recht auf den Tod) in 1895. Lifton writes: Jost argued that control over the death of the individual must ultimately belong to the social organism, the state. This concept is in direct opposition to the Anglo-American concept of euthanasia, which emphasizes
946-507: A growing number of countries. Non-voluntary euthanasia occurs when a patient's consent is unavailable and is legal in some countries under certain limited conditions, in both active and passive forms. Involuntary euthanasia, which is done without asking for consent or against the patient's will, is illegal in all countries and is usually considered murder . As of 2006 , euthanasia had become the most active area of research in bioethics . In some countries, divisive public controversy occurs over
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#17327973205111032-561: A hospital janitor, had a difficult relationship with Shanbaug, his superior. He says that "there was an argument and a physical fight" when Shanbaug refused to give him leave to visit his ill mother-in-law and said that she would report him for poor work. Since then, he was fired from his job, and his sons disowned their father after learning the truth. Following the attack, nurses in Mumbai went on strike demanding improved conditions for Shanbaug and better working conditions for themselves. In
1118-487: A labourer and cleaner in a power station. After his release from prison, he returned to his ancestral village of Dadupur in western Uttar Pradesh before moving to Parpa in the late 1980s. When interviewed, Sohanlal described his version of the assault, claiming it had been committed in a "fit of rage" and that he had no clear recollection of when it had taken place or what he may have done, though he denied raping her and said that it "must have been someone else". Sohanlal, then
1204-582: A number of objections to the Christian doctrine of the sanctity of human life". The rise of the euthanasia movement in the United States coincided with the so-called Gilded Age , a time of social and technological change that encompassed an "individualistic conservatism that praised laissez-faire economics, scientific method , and rationalism ", along with major depressions , industrialisation and conflict between corporations and labour unions. It
1290-424: A number of possible actions that would meet the requirements of the definition but would not be seen as euthanasia. In particular, these include situations where a person kills another, painlessly, but for no reason beyond that of personal gain, or accidental deaths that are quick and painless but not intentional. Another approach incorporated the notion of suffering into the definition. The definition offered by
1376-399: A patient's death, so long as the person is of lawful age and sound mind, and was suffering from a fatal injury, an irrevocable illness, or great physical pain. It also required that the case be heard by a physician, required informed consent in front of three witnesses, and required the attendance of three physicians who had to agree that the patient's recovery was impossible. A motion to reject
1462-618: A persistent vegetative state for nearly 42 years. Aruna Shanbaug was born in a Konkani Brahmin family 1948 in Haldipur , Uttar Kannada , Karnataka . She worked as a nurse at the King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEM) in Mumbai . At the time of the attack, she was engaged to a doctor employed at the same hospital. On 27 November 1973, Shanbaug, then 25 years old, was sexually assaulted by a male sweeper on contract at
1548-405: A person gives informed consent : voluntary, non-voluntary and involuntary. There is a debate within the medical and bioethics literature about whether or not the non-voluntary (and by extension, involuntary) killing of patients can be regarded as euthanasia, irrespective of intent or the patient's circumstances. In the definitions offered by Beauchamp and Davidson and, later, by Wreen, consent on
1634-400: A person suffering from an incurable disease for personal gain (such as to claim an inheritance), and commentators such as Tom Beauchamp and Arnold Davidson have argued that doing so would constitute "murder simpliciter" rather than euthanasia. The third element incorporated into many definitions is that of intentionality: the death must be intended rather than accidental, and the intent of
1720-464: A report on Shanbaug's medical condition from the hospital in Mumbai and the government of Maharashtra . On 24 January 2011, a three-member medical panel was established under the Supreme Court's directive. After examining Shanbaug, the panel concluded that she met "most of the criteria of being in a permanent vegetative state". On 7 March 2011, the Supreme Court, in a landmark judgement, issued
1806-541: A right to self-determination , and thus should be allowed to choose their own fate; b) assisting a subject to die might be a better choice than requiring that they continue to suffer; c) the distinction between passive euthanasia, which is often permitted, and active euthanasia, which is not substantive (or that the underlying principle–the doctrine of double effect –is unreasonable or unsound); and d) permitting euthanasia will not necessarily lead to unacceptable consequences. Pro-euthanasia activists often point to countries like
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#17327973205111892-437: A secret Nazi decree that led to 'mercy killings' of almost 300,000 mentally and physically handicapped people". While Kretchmar's killing received parental consent, most of the 5,000 to 8,000 children killed afterwards were forcibly taken from their parents. The "euthanasia campaign" of mass murder gathered momentum on 14 January 1940 when the "handicapped" were killed with gas vans and at killing centres, eventually leading to
1978-490: A set of broad guidelines legalizing passive euthanasia in India. These guidelines for passive euthanasia— i.e. the decision to withdraw treatment, nutrition, or water—establish that the decision to discontinue life support must be taken by parents, spouse, or other close relatives, or in the absence of them, by a "next friend". The decision also requires court approval. In its judgement, the court declined to recognize Virani as
2064-507: A vegetative state following the assault. On 24 January 2011, after Shanbaug had been in this state for 37 years, the Supreme Court of India responded to a plea for euthanasia filed by journalist Pinki Virani , setting up a medical panel to examine her. The court rejected the petition on 7 March 2011. However, in its landmark opinion, it allowed passive euthanasia in India. Shanbaug died of pneumonia on 18 May 2015, after being in
2150-472: A ventilator. She died the morning of 18 May 2015. Her funeral was performed by the hospital nurses and other staff members. A non-fiction book titled Aruna's Story was written about the case by Pinki Virani in 1998. Duttakumar Desai wrote the Marathi play Katha Arunachi in 1994–95, which was performed at college level and subsequently staged by Vinay Apte in 2002. A Gujarati fiction novel, Jad Chetan ,
2236-542: A wrong interpretation of the Constitution Bench's opinion in Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab . The court also determined that the opinion was internally inconsistent because although it held that euthanasia can be allowed only by an act of the legislature, it then proceeded to judicially establish euthanasia guidelines. The court referred the issue to a larger Constitution Bench for resolution, writing: In view of
2322-546: Is a burden or hindrance to the state. The Nazis followed this principle and compulsory Euthanasia was practiced as a part of their program during the recent war. We American citizens of New York State must ask ourselves this question: "Are we going to finish Hitler's job?" The petition brought tensions between the American Euthanasia Society and the Catholic Church to a head that contributed to
2408-399: Is almost nonexistent. As of 2024, dictionary definitions focus on euthanasia as the act of killing someone to prevent further suffering. There is no sense of whether the person agrees or is proactive in the situation. In 1974 euthanasia was defined as the "painless inducement of a quick death". However, it is argued that this approach fails to properly define euthanasia, as it leaves open
2494-427: Is sufficient current evidence for either A or B that causal means to A's death will not produce any more suffering than would be produced for A if B were not to intervene; (4) the causal means to the event of A's death are chosen by A or B to be as painless as possible, unless either A or B has an overriding reason for a more painful causal means, where the reason for choosing the latter causal means does not conflict with
2580-466: Is sufficient current evidence related to A's present condition such that one or more known causal laws supports B's belief that A will be in a condition of acute suffering or irreversible comatoseness; (3) (a) B's primary reason for intending A's death is cessation of A's (actual or predicted future) suffering or irreversible comatoseness, where B does not intend A's death for a different primary reason, though there may be other relevant reasons, and (b) there
2666-494: Is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering . Different countries have different euthanasia laws . The British House of Lords select committee on medical ethics defines euthanasia as "a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life to relieve intractable suffering". In the Netherlands and Belgium , euthanasia is understood as "termination of life by
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2752-528: The National Secular Society , considering it a duty to society to "die voluntarily and painlessly" when one reaches the point of becoming a 'burden'. Popular Science analyzed the issue in May 1873, assessing both sides of the argument. Kemp notes that at the time, medical doctors did not participate in the discussion; it was "essentially a philosophical enterprise ... tied inextricably to
2838-485: The Netherlands and Belgium , and states like Oregon , where euthanasia has been legalized, to argue that it is mostly unproblematic. Government of Maharashtra The Government of Maharashtra is the executive governing authority of the Indian state of Maharashtra . The government is led by the chief minister (currently Eknath Shinde since 30 June 2022) who selects all the other ministers. The state has had
2924-570: The Oxford English Dictionary incorporates suffering as a necessary condition with "the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma", This approach is included in Marvin Khol and Paul Kurtz's definition of it as "a mode or act of inducing or permitting death painlessly as a relief from suffering". Counterexamples can be given: such definitions may encompass killing
3010-425: The individual's 'right to die' or 'right to death' or 'right to his or her own death,' as the ultimate human claim. In contrast, Jost was pointing to the state's right to kill. ... Ultimately the argument was biological: 'The rights to death [are] the key to the fitness of life.' The state must own death—must kill—in order to keep the social organism alive and healthy. In modern terms, the use of "euthanasia" in
3096-582: The "next friend" of Aruna Shanbaug, and instead treated the KEM hospital staff as the "next friend." We do not mean to decry or disparage what Ms. Pinki Virani has done. Rather, we wish to express our appreciation of the splendid social spirit she has shown. We have seen on the internet that she has been espousing many social causes, and we hold her in high esteem. All that we wish to say is that however much her interest in Aruna Shanbaug may be it cannot match
3182-634: The 1980s, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (BMC) made two attempts to move Shanbaug outside the KEM Hospital to free the bed she had been occupying for seven years. KEM nurses launched a protest, and the BMC abandoned the plan. Shanbaug remained in a vegetative state from 1973 until her death in 2015. On 17 December 2010, the Supreme Court, while admitting the plea to end the life made by activist-journalist Pinki Virani, sought
3268-541: The Birmingham Speculative Club in England, which was subsequently published in a one-off publication entitled Essays of the Birmingham Speculative Club , the collected works of a number of members of an amateur philosophical society. Williams' proposal was to use chloroform to deliberately hasten the death of terminally ill patients: That in all cases of hopeless and painful illness, it should be
3354-698: The Committee on Public Health. After 1906 the euthanasia debate reduced in intensity, resurfacing periodically, but not returning to the same level of debate until the 1930s in the United Kingdom. Euthanasia opponent Ian Dowbiggin argues that the early membership of the Euthanasia Society of America (ESA) reflected how many perceived euthanasia at the time, often seeing it as a eugenics matter rather than an issue concerning individual rights. Dowbiggin argues that not every eugenist joined
3440-565: The ESA "solely for eugenic reasons", but he postulates that there were clear ideological connections between the eugenics and euthanasia movements. The Voluntary Euthanasia Legalisation Society was founded in 1935 by Charles Killick Millard (now called Dignity in Dying). The movement campaigned for the legalisation of euthanasia in Great Britain. In January 1936, King George V was given
3526-627: The Euthanasia Society of America presented to the New York State Legislature a petition to legalize euthanasia, signed by 379 leading Protestant and Jewish ministers, the largest group of religious leaders ever to have taken this stance. A similar petition had been sent to the New York Legislature in 1947, signed by approximately 1,000 New York physicians. Roman Catholic religious leaders criticized
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3612-535: The KEM hospital staff at some future time changes its mind, in our opinion in such a situation the KEM hospital would have to apply to the Bombay High Court for approval of the decision to withdraw life support. On 25 February 2014, while hearing a PIL filed by NGO Common Cause , a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India said that the prior opinion in the Aruna Shanbaug case was based on
3698-584: The King Edward Memorial Hospital. The attack occurred while she was changing clothes in the hospital basement. He choked her with a dog chain and raped her. This cut off oxygen to her brain, resulting in a brain stem contusion, cervical cord injury, and cortical blindness . She was discovered at 7:45 am the following morning by a cleaner. Sohanlal Bhartha Valmiki was caught and convicted of assault and robbery, and he served two concurrent seven-year sentences, being released in 1980. He
3784-555: The Netherlands under the Groningen Protocol . Passive forms of non-voluntary euthanasia (i.e. withholding treatment) are legal in a number of countries under specified conditions. Involuntary euthanasia is conducted against the will of the patient. Voluntary, non-voluntary and involuntary types can be further divided into passive or active variants. Passive euthanasia entails the withholding treatment necessary for
3870-417: The action must be a "merciful death". Michael Wreen argued that "the principal thing that distinguishes euthanasia from intentional killing simpliciter is the agent's motive: it must be a good motive insofar as the good of the person killed is concerned." Similarly, Heather Draper speaks to the importance of motive, arguing that "the motive forms a crucial part of arguments for euthanasia, because it must be in
3956-423: The action specified in (1) is more or less in accordance with A's plan of action; (5) A's killing of B is a voluntary action; (6) the motive for the action specified in (1), the motive standing behind the intention specified in (2), is the good of the person killed. Wreen also considered a seventh requirement: "(7) The good specified in (6) is, or at least includes, the avoidance of evil", although, as Wreen noted in
4042-696: The benefit of humanity as a whole. Following the Supreme Court decision rejecting the plea, the nursing staff at the hospital—who had opposed the petition and had been looking after Shanbaug since she had lapsed into a vegetative state—distributed sweets and cut a cake to celebrate what they termed her "rebirth". A senior nurse at the hospital later said, "We have to tend to her just like a small child at home. She only keeps aging like any of us, does not create any problems for us. We take turns looking after her and we love to care for her. How can anybody think of taking her life?" Pinki Virani's lawyer, Shubhangi Tulli, decided not to file an appeal, saying "the two-judge ruling
4128-428: The benefit of the second person, who actually does benefit from being killed". Draper argued that any definition of euthanasia must incorporate four elements: an agent and a subject; an intention; causal proximity, such that the actions of the agent lead to the outcome; and an outcome. Based on this, she offered a definition incorporating those elements, stating that euthanasia "must be defined as death that results from
4214-465: The best interests of the person on the receiving end." Definitions such as those offered by the House of Lords Select committee on Medical Ethics take this path, where euthanasia is defined as "a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life, to relieve intractable suffering." Beauchamp and Davidson also highlight Baruch Brody 's "an act of euthanasia is one in which one person ... (A) kills another person (B) for
4300-637: The bill outright was voted down, but the bill failed to pass, 79 to 23. Along with the Ohio euthanasia proposal, in 1906 Assemblyman Ross Gregory introduced a proposal to permit euthanasia to the Iowa legislature . However, the Iowa legislation was broader in scope than that offered in Ohio. It allowed for the death of any person of at least ten years of age who suffered from an ailment that would prove fatal and cause extreme pain, should they be of sound mind and express
4386-619: The cold ground. Suicide and euthanasia became more accepted during the Age of Enlightenment . Thomas More wrote of euthanasia in Utopia , although it is not clear if More was intending to endorse the practice. Other cultures have taken different approaches: for example, in Japan suicide has not traditionally been viewed as a sin, as it is used in cases of honor, and accordingly, the perceptions of euthanasia are different from those in other parts of
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#17327973205114472-401: The context of Aktion T4 is seen to be a euphemism to disguise a program of genocide , in which people were killed on the grounds of "disabilities, religious beliefs, and discordant individual values". Compared to the discussions of euthanasia that emerged post-war, the Nazi program may have been worded in terms that appear similar to the modern use of "euthanasia", but there was no "mercy" and
4558-417: The continuance of life. Active euthanasia entails the use of lethal substances or forces (such as administering a lethal injection ), and is more controversial. While some authors consider these terms to be misleading and unhelpful, they are nonetheless commonly used. In some cases, such as the administration of increasingly necessary, but toxic doses of painkillers , there is a debate whether or not to regard
4644-402: The death of a human being, A, is an instance of euthanasia if and only if (1) A's death is intended by at least one other human being, B, where B is either the cause of death or a causally relevant feature of the event resulting in death (whether by action or by omission); (2) there is either sufficient current evidence for B to believe that A is acutely suffering or irreversibly comatose, or there
4730-564: The deaths of 70,000 adult Germans. was a campaign of mass murder by involuntary euthanasia in Nazi Germany . Its code name Aktion T4 is derived from Tiergartenstraße 4, a street address of the Chancellery department which recruited and paid personnel associated with the program. Professor Robert Jay Lifton , author of The Nazi Doctors and a leading authority on the T4 program, contrasts this program with what he considers to be
4816-507: The definition of euthanasia, there is discussion in the literature about excluding one but not the other. "Euthanasia" has had different meanings depending on usage. The first apparent usage of the term "euthanasia" belongs to the historian Suetonius , who described how the Emperor Augustus , "dying quickly and without suffering in the arms of his wife, Livia, experienced the 'euthanasia' he had wished for." The word "euthanasia"
4902-585: The definition of euthanasia. The first attempt to legalise euthanasia took place in the United States, when Henry Hunt introduced legislation into the General Assembly of Ohio in 1906. Hunt did so at the behest of Anna Sophina Hall , a wealthy heiress who was a major figure in the euthanasia movement during the early 20th century in the United States. Hall had watched her mother die after an extended battle with liver cancer , and had dedicated herself to ensuring that others would not have to endure
4988-405: The evidence in 3b; (5) A is a nonfetal organism. Wreen, in part responding to Beauchamp and Davidson, offered a six-part definition: Person A committed an act of euthanasia if and only if (1) A killed B or let her die; (2) A intended to kill B; (3) the intention specified in (2) was at least partial cause of the action specified in (1); (4) the causal journey from the intention specified in (2) to
5074-499: The first time by Marx. Marx also stressed the distinction of the theological care of the soul of sick people from the physical care and medical treatment by doctors. Euthanasia in its modern sense has always been strongly opposed in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Thomas Aquinas opposed both and argued that the practice of euthanasia contradicted our natural human instincts of survival, as did Francois Ranchin (1565–1641),
5160-417: The inconsistent opinions rendered in Aruna Shanbaug (supra) and also considering the important question of law involved which needs to be reflected in the light of social, legal, medical and constitutional perspective, it becomes extremely important to have a clear enunciation of law. Thus, in our cogent opinion, the question of law involved requires careful consideration by a Constitution Bench of this Court for
5246-636: The indirectly elected Legislative Council . The government is dependent on the Legislature to make primary legislation , and general elections are held every five years (at most) to elect a new Legislative Assembly. After an election, the Governor selects as chief minister the leader of the party or alliance commanding the confidence of the Legislative Assembly , usually by possessing a majority of MLAs. On 30 June 2022 Eknath Shinde
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#17327973205115332-418: The intention of one person to kill another person, using the most gentle and painless means possible, that is motivated solely by the best interests of the person who dies." Prior to Draper, Beauchamp and Davidson had also offered a definition that included these elements. Their definition specifically discounts fetuses to distinguish between abortions and euthanasia: In summary, we have argued ... that
5418-446: The involvement of the KEM hospital staff who have been taking care of Aruna day and night for 38 years. Since the KEM Hospital staff wished that Aruna Shanbaug be allowed to live, Virani's petition to withdraw life support was declined. However, the court further stipulated that the KEM hospital staff, with the approval of the Bombay High Court, had the option of withdrawing life support if they changed their mind: However, assuming that
5504-510: The moral, ethical, and legal issues associated with euthanasia. Passive euthanasia (known as "pulling the plug") is legal under some circumstances in many countries. Active euthanasia, however, is legal or de facto legal in only a handful of countries (for example, Belgium, Canada, and Switzerland), which limit it to specific circumstances and require the approval of counsellors , doctors, or other specialists. In some countries—such as Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan—support for active euthanasia
5590-432: The paper, he was not convinced that the restriction was required. In discussing his definition, Wreen noted the difficulty of justifying euthanasia when faced with the notion of the subject's " right to life ". In response, Wreen argued that euthanasia has to be voluntary and that "involuntary euthanasia is, as such, a great wrong". Other commentators incorporate consent more directly into their definitions. For example, in
5676-542: The part of the patient was not considered one of their criteria, although it may have been required to justify euthanasia. However, others see consent as essential. Voluntary euthanasia is conducted with the consent of the patient. Active voluntary euthanasia is legal in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Passive voluntary euthanasia is legal throughout the US per Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health . When
5762-517: The patient brings about their own death with the assistance of a physician, the term assisted suicide is often used instead. Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland and the U.S. states of California, Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont. Non-voluntary euthanasia is conducted when the consent of the patient is unavailable. Examples include child euthanasia , which is illegal worldwide but decriminalised under certain specific circumstances in
5848-519: The patients were not necessarily terminally ill. Despite these differences, historian and euthanasia opponent Ian Dowbiggin writes that "the origins of Nazi euthanasia, like those of the American euthanasia movement, predate the Third Reich and were intertwined with the history of eugenics and Social Darwinism, and with efforts to discredit traditional morality and ethics." On 6 January 1949,
5934-468: The petition, saying that such a bill would "legalize a suicide-murder pact" and a "rationalization of the fifth commandment of God, 'Thou Shalt Not Kill. ' " The Right Reverend Robert E. McCormick stated that: The ultimate object of the Euthanasia Society is based on the Totalitarian principle that the state is supreme and that the individual does not have the right to live if his continuance in life
6020-494: The practice , writing "I will not prescribe a deadly drug to please someone, nor give advice that may cause his death" (noting there is some debate in the literature about whether or not this was intended to encompass euthanasia). The term euthanasia , in the earlier sense of supporting someone as they died, was used for the first time by Francis Bacon . In his work, Euthanasia medica , he chose this ancient Greek word and, in doing so, distinguished between euthanasia interior ,
6106-606: The practice as active or passive. Euthanasia was practiced in Ancient Greece and Rome : for example, hemlock was employed as a means of hastening death on the island of Kea , a technique also employed in Massalia . Euthanasia, in the sense of the deliberate hastening of a person's death, was supported by Socrates , Plato and Seneca the Elder in the ancient world, although Hippocrates appears to have spoken against
6192-539: The preparation of the soul for death, and euthanasia exterior , which was intended to make the end of life easier and painless, in exceptional circumstances by shortening life. That the ancient meaning of an easy death came to the fore again in the early modern period can be seen from its definition in the 18th century Zedlers Universallexikon : Euthanasia: a very gentle and quiet death, which happens without painful convulsions. The word comes from ευ, bene , well, and θανατος, mors , death. The concept of euthanasia in
6278-433: The recognized duty of the medical attendant, whenever so desired by the patient, to administer chloroform or such other anaesthetic as may by-and-bye supersede chloroform – so as to destroy consciousness at once, and put the sufferer to a quick and painless death; all needful precautions being adopted to prevent any possible abuse of such duty; and means being taken to establish, beyond the possibility of doubt or question, that
6364-540: The remedy was applied at the express wish of the patient. The essay was favourably reviewed in The Saturday Review , but an editorial against the essay appeared in The Spectator . From there it proved to be influential, and other writers came out in support of such views: Lionel Tollemache wrote in favour of euthanasia, as did Annie Besant , the essayist and reformer who later became involved with
6450-468: The right to commit suicide, and, furthermore, that it should be permissible for a doctor to assist – thus making Adler the first "prominent American" to argue for suicide in cases where people were suffering from chronic illness. Both Ingersoll and Adler argued for voluntary euthanasia of adults suffering from terminal ailments. Dowbiggin argues that by breaking down prior moral objections to euthanasia and suicide, Ingersoll and Adler enabled others to stretch
6536-511: The same suffering. Towards this end she engaged in an extensive letter writing campaign, recruited Lurana Sheldon and Maud Ballington Booth , and organised a debate on euthanasia at the annual meeting of the American Humane Association in 1905 – described by Jacob Appel as the first significant public debate on the topic in the 20th century. Hunt's bill called for the administration of an anesthetic to bring about
6622-427: The sense of alleviating the process of death goes back to the medical historian Karl Friedrich Heinrich Marx , who drew on Bacon's philosophical ideas. According to Marx, a doctor had a moral duty to ease the suffering of death through encouragement, support and mitigation using medication. Such an "alleviation of death" reflected the contemporary zeitgeist , but was brought into the medical canon of responsibility for
6708-494: The time to hasten the death of the dying, (including the sudden removal of a pillow, which was believed to accelerate death), and argued against their use, as doing so was "against the laws of God and Nature". This view was shared by others who followed, including Philipp Jakob Spener, Veit Riedlin and Johann Georg Krünitz . Despite opposition, euthanasia continued to be practised, involving techniques such as bleeding, suffocation, and removing people from their beds to be placed on
6794-407: The world. In the mid-1800s, the use of morphine to treat "the pains of death" emerged, with John Warren recommending its use in 1848. A similar use of chloroform was revealed by Joseph Bullar in 1866. However, in neither case was it recommended that the use should be to hasten death. In 1870 Samuel Williams, a schoolteacher, initiated the contemporary euthanasia debate through a speech given at
6880-583: Was also the period in which the modern hospital system was developed, which has been seen as a factor in the emergence of the euthanasia debate. Robert Ingersoll argued for euthanasia, stating in 1894 that where someone is suffering from a terminal illness, such as terminal cancer, they should have a right to end their pain through suicide. Felix Adler offered a similar approach, although, unlike Ingersoll, Adler did not reject religion. In fact, he argued from an Ethical Culture framework. In 1891, Adler argued that those suffering from overwhelming pain should have
6966-700: Was described in a BBC "Genocide Under the Nazis Timeline" as the first "state-sponsored euthanasia". Parties that consented to the killing included Hitler's office, the parents, and the Reich Committee for the Scientific Registration of Serious and Congenitally Based Illnesses. The Telegraph noted that the killing of the disabled infant—whose name was Gerhard Kretschmar , born blind, with missing limbs, subject to convulsions, and reportedly "an idiot"— provided "the rationale for
7052-460: Was final till the SC decided to constitute a larger bench to re-examine the issue." Pinki Virani said, "Because of this woman who has never received justice, no other person in a similar position will have to suffer for more than three and a half decades." A few days before her death, Shanbaug was diagnosed with pneumonia . She was moved to the medical intensive care unit (MICU) of the hospital and put on
7138-461: Was first used in a medical context by Francis Bacon in the 17th century to refer to an easy, painless, happy death, during which it was a "physician's responsibility to alleviate the 'physical sufferings' of the body." Bacon referred to an "outward euthanasia"—the term "outward" he used to distinguish from a spiritual concept—the euthanasia "which regards the preparation of the soul." Euthanasia may be classified into three types, according to whether
7224-429: Was not convicted of rape, sexual molestation, or unnatural sexual offense, the last of which could have been punished with life imprisonment. Journalist and human rights activist Pinki Virani attempted to track down Sohanlal; she believes that Sohanlal changed his name after leaving prison but continued to work in a Delhi hospital, and since neither the King Edward Memorial Hospital nor the court that tried Sohanlal kept
7310-508: Was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 30 June 2022, on resignation of his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray . Shinde leads a government consisting of his Shiv Sena (Shinde group) party, Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar group) and Bharatiya Janata Party as Eknath Shinde ministry Council portfolios are as follows Other departments not allocated to any Minister. 24 September 2022 An alphabetical list of all
7396-780: Was written by popular novelist Harkisan Mehta in 1985 based on Aruna Shanbaug's case. Anumol played Aruna in the 2014 Malayalam film Maram Peyyumbol . Aruna's story was also portrayed in the Crime Patrol series of Sony TV. In June 2020, the Ullu web series named KASAK was released, which is loosely based on this case. The role of Sheetal, Shanbaug's stand-in, is portrayed by Ihana Dhillon . Euthanasia Note: Varies by jurisdiction Note: Varies by jurisdiction Euthanasia (from Greek : εὐθανασία , lit. 'good death': εὖ , eu , 'well, good' + θάνατος , thanatos , 'death')
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