Euthanasia

Euthanasia (Greek: ?????????, "good death") is the practice of killing a person or animal, in a painless or minimally painful way, for merciful reasons, usually to end their suffering. This article discusses euthanasia in humans; a separate article covers animal euthanasia.

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Euthanasia in the strict sense involves actively causing death (active euthanasia). This is in some cases legal in the Netherlands and Belgium, but in no other countries (as of 2005). Euthanasia in a wider sense includes assisting sufferers to commit suicide, in particular physician-assisted suicide; this is legal in a small number of jurisdictions.

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Allowing death—e.g. by not providing life support or vital medication—is not considered euthanasia if it is the patient's wish. It is sometimes called passive euthanasia in cases where the patient is unable to make decisions about treatment. Living wills and Do Not Resuscitate orders are legal instruments that make a patient's treatment decisions known ahead of time; allowing a patient to die based on such decisions is not considered to be euthanasia.

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Terminal sedation is a combination of medically inducing a deep sleep and stopping other treatment, with the exception of medication for symptom control (such as analgesia). It is considered to be euthanasia by some, but under current law and medical practice it is considered a form of palliative care.

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Advocates of euthanasia generally insist that euthanasia should be voluntary, requiring informed consent, and that it should only be used in cases of terminal illness that cause unbearable suffering, or an eventual, complete loss of awareness. Its opponents challenge it on several ethical grounds, including a slippery slope argument that it is the first step towards compulsory euthanasia.

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In Nazi Germany the term "euthanasia" (Euthanasie) referred to the systematic killing of disabled children and adults under the T-4 Euthanasia Program. This has tainted the word in German-speaking countries; the alternate term is the older "Sterbehilfe", which means "help to die".

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Greek: The noun Greek refers to:...

Death: Death is the cessation of physical life in a living organism or the state of the organism after that event. In almost all societies, death has one or several symbols associated with it. Common symbols of death in Western cultures include the grim reaper and the color black; conversely, in certain Ea...

Suffering: :"Sad" redirects here; for the three letter acronym, see SAD, or for the Qur'anic sura see Sad...