Thursday, August 23, 2007

History of Euthanasia

Heart of The Matter
This is only one such case in the stormy history of Euthanasia. Because it means the death of one person in the hands of another, it is seen as homicide and is punishable by law. For which Euthanasia provokes the kind of response in Western society, as does abortion. It has both staunch supporters and merciless denouncers.

Euthanasia in the Law
Organized pro-euthanasia movement, as we know it today, is traced back to England when the Voluntary Euthanasia Legalization Society was established in 1935 by C. Killick Millard and whose bill was defeated in the House of Lords the following year. In 1950, another motion on the same issue was again rejected. Around this time, the pro-choice movement within the United States was also gaining momentum and in 1938, the Euthanasia Society of America was established.

Since then, numerous other countries have experienced similar developments in their legislative organs. In the State of Oregon of the United States, a statute titled 'Measure 16' was passed and was held up by the court. The law allows doctors to assist in the suicide of a patient by way of lethal drug prescription. This makes the state the only one in the US, and possibly the world, to sanction the doctor's assistance in a patient's suicide. Other US states like Washington and California have also tried to flow in this direction. In the former, such an attempt failed as recently as 1991 and in the following year, California also witnessed a similar development. In Australia, the Northern Territory actually passed a Euthanasia bill in 1995, which became effective the following year, only to have the federal parliament give a ruling against it in 1997.

Any mention of Euthanasia remains incomplete without a reference to the Netherlands. The country, liberal in many of its social issues, also extends like an umbrella over the practice of Euthanasia. The situation there is quite peculiar. Euthanasia is practiced, although by law it is still illegal. The Dutch try to protect their Euthanasia practice from degenerating into misuse by making sure that the patients truly make a will to die. For this, the Netherlands State Commission on Euthanasia uses the wording 'explicit request of the person who dies' in its definition of Euthanasia. A line of stringent measures are also enforced to prevent malpractice.

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