Context: Recently, the House of Commons in the United Kingdom voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill to legalise assisted dying. The Bill allows terminally ill patients to request assistance to end their own life.
India has legalised passive euthanasia (withdrawing life support for terminally ill patients) through the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Relevance of the topic:
Prelims: Assisted dying, assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Mains: Developments regarding ‘Right to Die with Dignity’.
What are assisted dying, assisted suicide and euthanasia?
1. Assisted Dying:
- Assisted dying generally refers to a person who is terminally ill receiving lethal drugs from a medical practitioner, where the patient self-administers the medication.
- Legal status in India: Not recognised or permitted under the Indian law. It is viewed as a form of suicide.
- Note:
- Suicide was decriminalised in India through the Mental Healthcare Act (MHCA), 2017.
- However, abetting or aiding someone to suicide is punishable under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
2. Assisted Suicide:
- Assisted suicide is intentionally helping another person to end their life, including someone who is not terminally ill. That could involve providing lethal medication or helping them travel to another jurisdiction to die.
- Legal status in India: Prohibited under the Indian law. Assisting someone to suicide is punishable under section 306 of IPC.
3. Euthanasia:
- Euthanasia is the act of deliberately ending a person's life to relieve suffering in which a lethal drug is administered by a physician. Patients may not be terminally ill.
- There are two types:
- Voluntary euthanasia where consent is given by a patient.
- Non-voluntary where a patient cannot consent. (E.g., they are in a coma).
- Legal status in India:
- Active Euthanasia: It means killing a patient by active means (injecting a patient with a lethal dose of a drug). Active Euthanasia is illegal in India and a crime under section 302 or section 304 of IPC.
- Passive Euthanasia: Legal in India. It is the refusal of treatment, or withdrawal of life support, to allow a patient to die.
Developments regarding ‘Right to Die with Dignity’
- Aruna Shanbaug vs. Union of India, 2011: In the landmark judgement, the Supreme Court, issued a set of broad guidelines legalising passive euthanasia in India. Life-sustaining treatment could be legally withdrawn from the persons in vegetative state without decision-making capacity.
- Common Cause vs Union of India 2018: SC recognised the right to refuse medical treatment even if it might result in death (i.e., Right to die with dignity) as a fundamental right under Article 21 (Right to life and personal liberty) of the Indian Constitution. It recognised ‘living wills’ or ‘advance medical directive’.
- Common Cause vs Union of India 2023: SC simplified the process of executing ‘Advance Medical Directive’ or ‘living wills’ for terminally ill patients.
- September 2024: Draft guidelines were published by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) for the ‘Withdrawal of Life Support in Terminally ill Patients’ in compliance with the Supreme Court’s 2018 and 2023 orders on the right to die with dignity.
Also Read: Right to die with dignity