What is a living will, and the new Supreme Court order for simplifying passive euthanasia procedure?
The Supreme Court of India amended the guidelines governing passive euthanasia to make the process less complicated and time-consuming.
Guidelines Changes
- The Supreme Court modified the prior decision to eliminate the need for a judicial magistrate to testify or countersign a living will.
- The Supreme Court ruled that an attestation by a notary or a gazetted authority is necessary for a person to form a lawful living will.
- Instead of the living being in the custody of the relevant district court, the Supreme Court stated that the document would become a part of the National Health Digital Record, which may be viewed by hospitals and physicians anywhere in the nation.
- The patient''s family may file a complaint with the appropriate high court, which will appoint a new board of medical specialists to help it make a final decision if the hospital''s medical board has denied authorization to stop medical treatment.
Passive Euthanasia
- The act of withholding or withdrawing medical care, such as withholding or removing life support, to let a person die is known as passive euthanasia.
- Active euthanasia, in contrast, entails an active intervention to end a person''s life with drugs or an outside force, such as giving a deadly injection.
India''s practice of euthanasia includes:
- The Supreme Court of India legalized passive euthanasia in 2018 in a landmark decision, using the concept of a "living will."
- Under some situations, an adult may refuse medical care or freely opt not to receive medical treatment from embracing death naturally, according to the judgement.
- It also established criteria for ''living wills'' prepared by terminally ill individuals aware of their possibilities of entering a permanent vegetative state.
- "Dignity in the process of dying is as much an element of the right to life under Article 21," the court declared. Depriving a person of dignity at the end of life deprives the person of a meaningful existence."
Several nations that practice euthanasia:
- Euthanasia and assisted suicide are both legal in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium for anybody experiencing "unbearable agony" with no possibility of relief.
- Switzerland forbids euthanasia, but permits assisted suicide when a doctor or medical professional is present.
- Euthanasia and assisted suicide will be legal in Canada for mentally ill people by March 2023, the decision has drawn heavy criticism, and the implementation date may be postponed.
- In the United States, each state has its own set of laws. Some states, including Washington, Oregon, and Montana, permit euthanasia.
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