Legal Status
Active non-voluntary euthanasia is illegal in all countries in the world, although it is practised in the Netherlands on infants (see Groningen Protocol) under an agreement between physicians and district attorneys that was ratified by the Dutch National Association of Pediatricians.
Passive non-voluntary euthanasia (withholding life support) is legal in India, Albania, and many parts of the United States and is practiced in English hospitals.
Arguing for legalization, Len Doyal, a professor of medical ethics and former member of the ethics committee of the British Medical Association, said in 2006 that "roponents of voluntary euthanasia should support non-voluntary euthanasia under appropriate circumstances and with proper regulation".
Arguing against legalization is activist Peter Saunders, campaign director for Care Not Killing, an alliance of Christian and disability groups, who called Doyal's proposals "the very worst form of medical paternalism whereby doctors can end the lives of patients after making a judgment that their lives are of no value and claim that they are simply acting in their patients' best interests".
Read more about this topic: Non-voluntary Euthanasia
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