What is 'Euthanasia'?

Euthanasia literally means “A good death” that comes from the Greek “eu” meaning good, and “thantos”meaning death. It must be noted that there is a key difference between euthanasia and suicide, euthanasia involvesmore than one person- someone else is needed to perform, the killing. There are 2 key distinctions in the way euthanasia is performed. Firstly, passive euthanasia is to allow a patient die by withdrawing medical treatment or nourishment, for example turning off a life-support system, to which, a patient in a coma has been connected. Secondly, active euthanasia is to take action deliberately designed to end a patient’s life, for example giving someone a lethal injection. As the law stands in the UK, deliberate or ‘active’ euthanasia will normally leave anyone assisting suicide or death liable for murder; euthanasia is outlawed by the Murder Act of 1965 and by the Suicide Act of 1971.There are also two main forms of euthanasia, voluntary and non-voluntary. Voluntary euthanasia means that a patient’s death is caused and consent has been given by the individual. There is also non-voluntary euthanasia whereby a patient who is not able to express their wishes about whether they should be able to live or die is euthanised, for example, new-born babies, or a person severely brain-damaged and in a long-term coma with no awareness of their surroundings- referred to as a Permanent Vegetative State.