Prekshya Karki
19 August, 2020
Suicide is the act of intentionally killing oneself. People think of doing such an act when they are suffering from something. According to WHO close to 8000,000 people die due to suicide every year which means one person in every 40 second. But the term assisted suicide is different from common suicide. Assisted suicide also known as assisted dying which is the act of intentionally assisting another person to kill themselves.
Here the person seeks the help from physician or other health care provider, so,it is also called as physician-assisted Suicide (PAS). This suicide is mainly done when the person is experiencing continuous and unending suffering. In this method doctors will determine the most effective and painless method. Assisted suicide is completely different from Euthanasia though euthanasia also refers to intentionally killing the person who is suffering from long-term illness.
What is Euthanasia? Euthanasia is the act of intentionally ending a persons life to relieve suffering. This can be done with or without the consent of a suffering people, and it can be classified into Voluntary, non-voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary : killing a person with consent is known as voluntary euthanasia. Non-voluntary euthanasia : killing a person who is unable to provide consent is known as non-voluntary euthanasia. Killing a person who does , ''want to die or who is not capable of giving consent is regarded as murder.
THE LAW
Both euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal under Suicide Act 1961 and is punishable up too 14 years imprisonment. But Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) is legal in some countries,like Switzerland, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, Australia (Victoria) and some part of the USA. But an an individual who seek Physician-assisted Suicide (PAS) must meet certain criteria like having a terminal illness, providing that they are sounding of mind, repeatedly expressing their wish to die.
For Euthanasia Depending on the different situation euthanasia is sometime regarded as either manslaughter or murder. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment. But some forms of voluntary euthanasia are legal in some countries, like Canada, Netherlands , Belgium, Colombia, Luxembourg. Assisted dying versus Assisted suicide as assisted suicide is done under the consent of physician or healthcare provider so some medical organization of the USA deny the term suicide.
American Associate of Sociology asserts that medical aid in dying is fundamentally different from suicide and term physician-assisted suicide (PAS) shouldn't be used They feel that the word `suicide´ has no relation to the situation where the person who is suffering since long and wants a peaceful death.
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