EUTHANASIA: AIMING TO KILL WITH A COUNTER FULL OF OPTIONS?

Euthanasia or assisted suicide has been a matter of contention for many years with various types of euthanasia including voluntary, non-voluntary, involuntary, active and passive euthanasia being argued for around the world. This article highlights the types of euthanasia while analyzing the ethical, legal, economical and spiritual dilemmas surrounding them. It also compares euthanasia laws of countries around the world with the Indian stand taken by the Supreme Court in legalizing passive euthanasia. There exists a ne line between life and death. It is the duty of a medical practitioner to assess these situations critically while preserving a patient's autonomy. To deny a person the right to end their life with dignity is equivalent to depriving them of a meaningful existence.

EUTANAZIJA KAO KRAJNJI IZRAZ LIČNOG PRAVA ČOVEKA NA SAMOODREĐENjE

The author discusses different segments of the institute of euthanasia ("murder out of mercy"), especially the question of the justification of its legalization. The subject of the analysis are the solutions of certain European regulations that have completely or partially decriminalized euthanasia, and then the domestic one, in which there is a collision of the norms of criminal and medical law. According to the positive serbian criminal law, euthanasia is a criminal offense and a privileged form of murder, while the Law on Patients' Rights indirectly allows the so-called passive euthanasia, which is not the optimal solution, which introduces legal uncertainty. Тhe Preliminary Draft of the Civil Code of Serbia, which embodies the proposal for the future civil law of Serbia, proposes the decriminalization of euthanasia, which is a solution that needs to be commented on. The aim of the paper is a comparative analysis of domestic and foreign solutions of this controversial institute - through its concept, types (active and passive euthanasia) and critical analysis of the reasons for and against its introduction into the domestic law. The author evaluates the proposal of the Preliminary Draft as progress, with the idea that euthanasia, despite all the controversies that accompany it, represents the ultimate expression of a personal right to self-determination (subjective civil right sui generis), in both modalities, without distinction.

LIFE AND DEATH. EUTANASIA

Euthanasia is a good death in Greek. According to Wikipedia, «euthanasia» is the termination of a person's life in a quick, painless way. Euthanasia is used in people who have incurable diseases and no longer want to suffer from pain, their condition. The term «euthanasia» was first used by F. Bacon to denote easy death in the 17th century. Since 2020, certain types of euthanasia are legally allowed in Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, parts of Australia, and in some of the sUS states. Palliative and hospice care is sometimes seen as a relative alternative to euthanasia. There are two types of euthanasia – active, which involves the administration of a dying person, drugs that cause rapid death, and passive – intentional cessation of maintenance therapy to the patient. Active euthanasia is often considered suicide with medical help, if the doctor gives the patient a drugs that will shorten his life at the request of the patient.. In Ukraine, the actions of a doctor for euthanasia are considered premeditated murder. The coronavirus pandemic has shown that many countries of the world are ready to introduce passive euthanasia, that is, in the event of mass morbidity, not only ideas are spread, but also projects about the inaccessibility of medical care for the elderly in order to save young people, about limiting the hospitalizations of elderly people with a serious illness, which requires mechanical ventilation with a shortage of ventilators and hospitals that can provide oxygenation. The debate over euthanasia revolves around the following issues: people have the right to self-determination and independent choice of destiny; helping the sick people to die may be a better choice than suffering; the difference between active and passive euthanasia is insignificant; permission for euthanasia does not necessarily lead to adverse consequences. Disputes often take place at the ethical or religious level. Opponents of euthanasia defend the right for life under any circumstances, and the adoption of the law expands the cohort of patients with euthanasia and hope for life. Keywords: euthanasia, death, life, consciousness, stroke.

Ethics and legal aspects of the right to die with dignity

Euthanasia is in liaison with ethics and law. This paper, which aims to contribute to the expert public debate on the introduction of euthanasia into Serbian legislation, the term terminology - euthanasia (as the Right to Die with Dignity) is the first to have been terminologically clarified. Furthermore, the text considers the obligations of other persons, arising out of this right and under what conditions the obligations of other persons arising from the said right constitute a restriction of their personality rights. By citing examples in the field of ethics and law, the text notes that the distinction between active and passive euthanasia is in fact a product of inadequate thinking in the implementation of this distinction. Based on the ethical argumentation of the double effect, also the text points to the inadequacy of the ethical approach in the function of legal regulation of the problem of euthanasia. Using abundant literature, which, from the legal and ethical point of view, problematizes euthanasia, the author has come to conclusion that the right to dignity is a social value that needs to be lawfully formulated, so that possible abuses can be prevented - and at the same time avoiding burdening the burden of responsibility to other persons (whether or not these are subjects of the judiciary or medicine), who should implement the patient's desire to die with dignity. Also, the author sought to base this article on the belief that Serbian legislation should legally shape the conditions for active direct euthanasia.

Attitudes of Indian Medical and Nursing Students Towards Euthanasia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

This cross-sectional survey was carried out among medical internees (n = 92) and nursing students (n = 228) to investigate their attitudes towards euthanasia. The data was collected by administering a Euthanasia Attitude questionnaire. The findings revealed that a majority (61%) of the participants were in support of euthanasia. Yet ethical dilemmas prevail among students about active and passive euthanasia and legalization of euthanasia. Further, age, gender, religion, education and exposure to patients who require euthanasia were significantly differed with euthanasia attitudes (p < 0.05). Therefore, it is strongly recommended that health care students should receive ethics education to prepare them in dealing with euthanasia related issues in their professional practice.

Ethical and legal aspects of the right to die with dignity

The issue of euthanasia presents a contact area of ethics, law, and politics. This text provides a contribution to the expert public debate on the introduction of euthanasia into Serbian legislation. It does so first by clarifies the term - euthanasia (as a right to die with dignity). Further, it considers the obligations of other persons that arise from this right and the conditions under which they present a restriction on personality rights. By citing examples from the fields of ethics and law, the text states that the distinction between active and passive euthanasia is in fact a product of inadequate deliberation during the implementation of this differentiation.