Deepthi 2022

Zo]vXn 2022
order to relieve pain and suffering. 2 Etymologically
the word euthanasia is derived from two
Greek words, eu meaning ‘happy’ and thanatos
meaning ‘death,’ thus it gives meaning of ‘good
death or happy death or comfortable death or easy
death’ without severe pain and suffering. In other
words, the term euthanasia became closely associated
with self-willed death which is closely related
to the general recognition of “freedom to
leave” which permitted the sick and dependent
to terminate their lives, sometimes with outside
help. 3
This term euthanasia as well as other terms like
death with dignity, assist to die, the right to die etc.
have become more ambiguous nowadays because
every often the distinction between killing and
letting die disappears into one and the same term
which is used to cover not only direct killing but
also indirect killing and letting die. Moreover, the
word euthanasia is often used with a qualifier:
“positive” (by therapies) or “negative” (withdrawal
of treatment), “direct” (by intention) or “indirect”
(action intended for some other purpose), “active”
(voluntary commission of a life-terminating action)
or “passive” (allowing to die when there is no
hope), “voluntary” (with the consent of the patient)
or “non-voluntary” (without the patient’s
consent), “prenatal” (to embryo or fetus) or “postnatal”
(to misshapen children), “adult” (other
than a fetus or misshapen) and so on. This calls
from further clarification and explanation of the
various types of euthanasia. 4
The word euthanasia does not occur in the
Bible. ‘Good death’ is a concept which is absolutely
foreign to the biblical revelation concerning life
and death. The Creator of all things made human
beings ‘to live and not to die.’ In the Old Testament
life is looked upon as the greatest good and
death as the worst evil. Deut. 30:15-20 says that,
“See, I set before you today life and prosperity,
death and destruction... I have set before youlife
and death, blessing and curses. Now choose life,
so that you and your children may live...” Indeed,
as per overall understanding, God is the Giver of
life and Christ is the Redeemer of life and Holy
Spirit sanctifies our life. 5
Moreover, the Bible strongly objects the practice
of euthanasia of any type is a direct violation
of the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.”
Those who take this position and argue that the
taking of life is specifically prohibited by this command;
therefore, it is prohibited since it is a form
of taking life. 6 The witness of the church is based
on the truth of the Word of God such as ‘do not
put an innocent or honest person to death, for I
will not acquit the guilty’ (Exod. 23:7), ‘...and from
each man, too, I will demand an accounting for
the life of his fellow man...’ (Gen. 9:5-6). The Roman
Catholic and Methodist Churches have
openly given their perspective against euthanasia
and whereas the Episcopalian, Unitarian and Presbyterian
Churches are allowing at least individual
decision making in cases of active euthanasia.
In ethical point of view, out of compassion
people demand that ‘we need euthanasia’ for allowing
people to ‘die with dignity’ which is kinder
than forcing them to continue their lives with suffering.
According to the autonomy argument,
people say that ‘we want euthanasia’ because every
patient has a right to choose when to die. As
per the liberation argument, death is a private
matter and if there is no harm to others, the state
and other people have no tight to interfere. And
some argues and supports it that death as a part
of human life and has equal consideration with
birth and that one can take a decision about ending
life falls in line with dying peacefully. On the
other hand, those who are opposing euthanasia
argue that, it is against the will of God and weakens
society’s respect for the ‘sanctity of life;’ there
is no right to be killed and there are real dangers
of ‘slippery slopes’ - opening the doors to voluntary
euthanasia could lead to non-voluntary and
involuntary euthanasia, by giving doctors the
power to decide when a patient’s life is not worth
living, because in the Netherlands around thousand
patients were killed in 1990 without their
request. And euthanasia undermines the motivation
to provide good care for the dying, and it will
discourage the search for new cures and treatments
for the terminally ill.
With all the various arguments still, euthanasia
is a challenging issue very much related to the
context as it is not only medical but emotional,
spiritual and a cultural aspect! With more social
division and less privileged people in India there
is a great challenge in regulating euthanasia in a
just manner. Yet the life and witness of Aruna
Shaunbaugh (an Indian nurse who spent 42 years
in a persistent vegetative state died on 18 May
2015 by pneumonia and not by euthanasia) is a
great step in helping people who are in pain and
suffering.
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