Passive Euthanasia

In April 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the right to die with dignity. It gave legal sanction to passive euthanasia and execution of a living will of persons suffering from chronic terminal diseases and likely to go into a permanent vegetative state.

• Living Will: A living will is a document prepared by a person in their healthy/sound state of mind under which they can specify whether or not they would like to opt for artificial life support, if he/she is in a vegetative state due to an irreversible terminal illness in the future.
• Passive Euthanasia: Passive euthanasia entails a patient being allowed to die by limiting medical intervention, not escalating already aggressive treatment, withholding or withdrawing artificial life support in cases that are judged to be medically futile.

Implications of the Judgment

• It accorded primacy to the constitutional values of liberty, dignity, autonomy and privacy.
• It expanded the scope of right to life (article 21) by including right to die with dignity in it.
• The recognition of a ‘living will’ will enable an individual to exercise the right to refuse medical treatment at a terminally-ill stage of life.