The act of killing someone painlessly
(especially someone suffering from an incurable illness)
The ending of life,
by medical means,
when there is no hope of recovery.
to spare it from incurable pain and suffering
The act or practice of ending the life
of an individual suffering from a terminal illness
or an incurable condition, as by lethal injection
Euthanasia: killing the dying. It’s OK –
isn’t it
for compassionate motives,
whether the killing is by a direct action,
such as a lethal injection,
or by failing to perform
an action necessary to maintain life.
For euthanasia to occur,
there must be an intention to kill.
Euthanasia has usually been proposed
only for those with terminal illness
with severe suffering,
but more recently
the concept has been extended
to include persons who wish to die
for some relatively trivial social reason,
such as being tired of life.
Why is euthanasia proposed?
that modern care of the dying,
called palliative care,
can now effectively relieve almost all severe pain
and significantly relieve emotional distress.
Both those who wish to relieve
distress by appropriate care
and those who propose killing through
ignorance are motivated by compassion.
But there are enormous
differences in the two approaches,
involving morality, medicine,
the law and the good of society.
WHO would do the killing
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