passive
euthanasia - POLITY
Recently, the Supreme Court of India denied
a petition from an elderly couple seeking News: “passive
euthanasia” for their comatose (deeply unconscious) son, who has been
bedridden for 11 years following a fall.
What’s in the news?
What is euthanasia, and what is a living
will?
- 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.
- Passive
euthanasia was legalised in India by the Supreme Court in 2018, contingent
upon the person having a ‘living will’ or a written document that
specifies what actions should be taken if the person is unable to make
their own medical decisions in the future.
In case a person does not have a living will, members
of their family can make a plea before the High Court to seek permission for
passive euthanasia.
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, and issued guidelines regulating this procedure.
- A
five-judge Constitution Bench headed by then Chief Justice of India (CJI)
Dipak Misra said that the guidelines would be in force 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.
- The
guidelines pertained to questions such as who would execute the living
will, and the process by which approval could be granted by the medical
board.
- “We
declare that an adult human being having mental capacity to take an
informed decision has right to refuse medical treatment including
withdrawal from life-saving devices,” the court said in the 2018 ruling.
Changes to Living Will Guidelines in India
The 2018 Guidelines
- A
living will was required to be signed by an executor in the presence of
two attesting witnesses, countersigned by a Judicial Magistrate of First
Class
- The
treating physician was required to constitute a board comprising three
expert medical practitioners with at least 20 years of experience to
decide whether to carry out the living will or not
- If
the medical board granted permission, the will had to be forwarded to the
District Collector for his approval
- The
Collector was to then form another medical board of three expert doctors,
including the Chief District Medical Officer
- Only
if this second board agreed with the hospital board’s findings would the
decision be forwarded to the JMFC, who would then visit the patient and
examine whether to accord approval
Changes Made by the Supreme Court
- Instead
of the hospital and Collector forming the two medical boards, both boards
will now be formed by the hospital
- The
requirement of 20 years of experience for the doctors has been relaxed to
five years
- The
requirement for the Magistrate’s approval has been replaced by an
intimation to the Magistrate
- The
medical board must communicate its decision within 48 hours
- The
2018 guidelines required two witnesses and a signature by the Magistrate;
now a notary or gazetted officer can sign the living will in the presence
of two witnesses instead of the Magistrate’s countersign
- In
case the medical boards set up by the hospital refuses permission, it will
now be open to the kin to approach the High Court which will form a fresh
medical team.
Different countries, different laws
- 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
criticised, 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.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/passive-euthanasia-terminally-ill-9528196/