NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Theme : Governance
Paper:GS- 2
A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice K M Joseph agreed to significantly ease the procedure for passive euthanasia in the country by altering the existing guidelines for ‘living wills’.
TABLE OF CONTENT
- Context
- What is Living Will
- Euthanasia
- What did SC Rule in 2018?
- Observations by Law Commission
- Global Examples
Context : A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice K M Joseph agreed to significantly ease the procedure for passive euthanasia in the country by altering the existing guidelines for ‘living wills’.
What is Living Will :
- A living will is a legal document detailing the type and level of medical care one wants to receive if they are unable to make decisions or communicate their wishes when care is needed.
- A living will addresses many life-threatening treatments and procedures, such as resuscitation, ventilation, and dialysis.
- A person can appoint a healthcare proxy to make decisions regarding care when they are unable to do so.
- A living trust is a legal document that addresses how the assets of the incapacitated person should be managed.
- People can enlist the services of an estate planner or an attorney to help draft or review a living will.
Euthanasia :
- Euthanasia refers to the practice of an individual deliberately ending their life, oftentimes to get relief from an incurable condition, or intolerable pain and suffering.
- Euthanasia, which can be administered only by a physician, can be either ‘active’ or ‘passive’.
- Active euthanasia involves an active intervention to end a person’s life with substances or external force, such as administering a lethal injection.
- Passive euthanasia refers to withdrawing life support or treatment that is essential to keep a terminally ill person alive.
What did SC Rule in 2018?
- The Supreme Court allowed passive euthanasia while recognising the living wills of terminally-ill patients who could go into a permanent vegetative state.
- It was required to be signed by an executor (the individual seeking euthanasia) in the presence of two attesting witnesses and to be further countersigned by a Judicial Magistrate of First Class (JMFC).
- The court issued guidelines regulating this procedure until Parliament passed legislation on this.
- However, this has not happened, and the absence of a law on this subject has rendered the 2018 judgment the last conclusive set of directions on euthanasia.
Observations by Law Commission :
- Earlier, in 2006, the Law Commission of India in its 196th Report’ had said that a doctor who obeys the instructions of a competent patient to withhold or withdraw medical treatment does not commit a breach of professional duty and the omission to treat will not be an offense.
- It had also recognised the patient’s decision to not receive medical treatment, and said it did not constitute an attempt to commit suicide under Section 309 IPC.
- Again, in 2008, the Law Commission’s ‘241st Report On Passive Euthanasia: A Relook’ proposed legislation on ‘passive euthanasia’, and also prepared a draft Bill.
Global Examples :
- NETHERLANDS, LUXEMBOURG, BELGIUM allow both euthanasia and assisted suicide for anyone who faces “unbearable suffering” that has no chance of improvement.
- SWITZERLAND bans euthanasia but allows assisted dying in the presence of a doctor or physician.
- CANADA had announced that euthanasia and assisted dying would be allowed for mentally ill patients by March 2023; however, the decision has been widely criticized, and the move may be delayed.
- UNITED STATES has different laws in different states. Euthanasia is allowed in some states like Washington, Oregon, and Montana.
- UNITED KINGDOM considers it illegal and equivalent to manslaughter.
FAQs :
-
What is Living Will?
ANS.
- A living will is a legal document detailing the type and level of medical care one wants to receive if they are unable to make decisions or communicate their wishes when care is needed.
- A living will addresses many life-threatening treatments and procedures, such as resuscitation, ventilation, and dialysis.
- A person can appoint a healthcare proxy to make decisions regarding care when they are unable to do so.
- A living trust is a legal document that addresses how the assets of the incapacitated person should be managed.
- People can enlist the services of an estate planner or an attorney to help draft or review a living will.
-
What did SC rule in 2018?
ANS.
- The Supreme Court allowed passive euthanasia while recognising the living wills of terminally-ill patients who could go into a permanent vegetative state.
- It was required to be signed by an executor (the individual seeking euthanasia) in the presence of two attesting witnesses and to be further countersigned by a Judicial Magistrate of First Class (JMFC).
- The court issued guidelines regulating this procedure until Parliament passed legislation on this.
- However, this has not happened, and the absence of a law on this subject has rendered the 2018 judgment the last conclusive set of directions on euthanasia.