Euthanasia
in India
The centre recently said that it is ready to frame a
statutory law on passive euthanasia. However, it said its “hands are stayed”
because of a pending litigation in the Supreme Court on mercy killing. This was
stated in the recently filed affidavit by the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare in the Supreme Court.
What is Passive Euthanasia?
It is the act of withdrawing medical treatment with
deliberate intention of causing the death of a terminally-ill patient.
Significance of this affidavit
This provides the first clear insight into whether
the Government considers euthanasia as manslaughter or an act of mercy.
Details
· The Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare is considering changes based on the recommendations made by an
expert panel. The expert panel constituted for this purpose has made changes
and cleared the formulation of legislation on passive euthanasia after
extensive debates, from July 2014 to June 2015.
· The committee has however
refused on legalising ‘active euthanasia’ – an intentional act of putting to
death a terminally-ill patient – on the grounds that this would lead to
potential misuse and is practised in “very few countries worldwide”.
· It should be noted here that
this issue is under the consideration of a Constitution Bench of the Supreme
Court since February 2014. Hence, the centre has said that its hands are tied.
Background
· The debate over this topic
is 14 years old. Several draft Bills have been formulated in the last 14 years.
The debate on legalising and regulating euthanasia began with a Lok Sabha
private member’s Bill – The Euthanasia (Regulation) Bill, 2002 – which was
examined by the Health Ministry.
· The debate kick-started
again four years later, following the 196thLaw Commission Report on euthanasia
and the drafting of the Medical Treatment of Terminally Ill Patients
(Protection of Patients and Medical Practitioners) Bill, 2006.
· But the Ministry’s experts
under the Director General Health Services took a stand against euthanasia for
reasons that it amounted to “intentional killing” and against the Hippocratic
oath.
· The Government even viewed
euthanasia as an act against progressive medical science’s objective to
rehabilitate and treat patients. It observed that death may be a fleeting
desire arising out of transient depression and doctors should not fall for the
patient’s wish to escape suffering by embracing death.
· However, the Government’s
perceptions about euthanasia changed in 2011 when the Supreme Court issued
comprehensive guidelines allowing passive euthanasia in the tragic case of the
bed-ridden former Mumbai nurse Aruna Shanbaug. In her case the staff of KEM
Hospital took care of her till her natural death last year.
· The apex court’s guidelines,
accepted by the Government, led to the Law Commission’s 241stReport
recommending a re-look at passive euthanasia in 2012.
· The Law Commission
subsequently took full two years to draft a new law on the subject – The
Medical Treatment of Terminally Ill Patients (Protection of Patients and
Medical Practitioners) Bill. The Ministry had received the draft Bill in April
2014 and begun its task to fine-tune the law.
=========================================
No comments:
Post a Comment