Translated from the ancient Greek, "euthanasia" means "good death", i.e. a death that brings relief. In many countries, the problems of the ethics of premeditated killing out of pity, the possibility of abuse of the right to euthanasia and medical error are discussed.
Instructions
Step 1
The term "euthanasia" is not for nothing that has Greek roots: Hellenic soldiers finished off their mortally wounded comrades on the battlefield to end their suffering. The wounded man had to die with a smile on his lips - this was called "die like a Hellene." The practice of killing children with deviations from the norm in ancient Sparta is widely known. There is evidence from ethnographers about the custom of killing sick children and frail old people among the primitive peoples of Oceania and the Far North even in the 19th century.
Step 2
Currently, a distinction is made between passive and active euthanasia. Active euthanasia is the use of special means that lead to a quick painless death, passive - in the refusal to fight to save the life of terminally ill patients.
Step 3
At the beginning of the 20th century, active euthanasia was practiced in some European countries. Nazi Germany, where the mass extermination of huge populations began with the forced euthanasia of the mentally ill, became a shining example of how the right to an easy death can be realized. As a result, euthanasia was banned throughout the civilized world. Again, a voluntary death for the terminally ill, experiencing severe suffering, was legalized in 1984 in the Netherlands. Then euthanasia was allowed throughout the Benelux.
Step 4
In 2002, the Netherlands passed a law on euthanasia for children over 12 years old, and in March 2014, Belgium allowed easy death for children of no age. In the Netherlands, euthanasia was applied to 8 teenagers during the time of the law.
Step 5
In Switzerland, euthanasia is legal in the canton of Zurich, with the most liberal law in the world governing voluntary death. Thanks to this, "suicide tourism" is flourishing in Zurich. Terminally ill people from all over the world travel to clinics in Zurich to receive a lethal injection that will end their suffering.
Step 6
Euthanasia is legal in 4 US states: Washington, Vermont, Georgia, and Oregon. But in the state of Michigan he was sentenced to life imprisonment and the pathologist Gevorkian, nicknamed "Doctor Death", died in prison. He sent to the other world 130 people who turned to him with a corresponding request.
Step 7
At the same time, passive euthanasia is legalized in some countries. Comatose patients can be disconnected from life support devices at the will of the patients themselves, declared in advance, at the request of their relatives or by court order in the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Israel, Mexico, Sweden, Benelux countries.
