Voluntary euthanasia (from the Greek ευθανασία meaning "good death": ευ-, eu- (well or good) + θάνατος, thanatos (death)) refers to the practice of ending a life in a painless manner. Voluntary euthanasia (VE) and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been the focus of great controversy in recent years.
As of 2009, some forms of voluntary euthanasia are legal in Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the US states of Oregon and Washington.
Read more about Voluntary Euthanasia: Assisted Suicide, History, Arguments For and Against Voluntary Euthanasia, Medical Ethics of Euthanasia, Voluntary Euthanasia and The Law, Voluntary Euthanasia and Religion, Euthanasia Protocols
Famous quotes containing the word voluntary:
“Men are not therefore put to death, or punished for that their theft proceedeth from election; but because it was noxious and contrary to men’s preservation, and the punishment conducing to the preservation of the rest, inasmuch as to punish those that do voluntary hurt, and none else, frameth and maketh men’s wills such as men would have them.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)