Euthanasia: Indian Socio-Legal Perspectives

Abstract

The function of law in society is not only to follow or adapt itself to public opinion, but also to give a lead and mould public opinion. Socio-legal debate is an important component of the process of law reform.

The questions whether the terminally ill, or others, should be free to seek assistance in taking their own lives, and if so, in what circumstances and subject to what safeguards, are of great social, ethical and religious significance. And there are widely differing beliefs and strong views of people in society.

The concept of Euthanasia involves not only medical and ethical issues related to public health and palliative care but also has  socio-economic dimensions. To analyze this concept fully and study the relevancy and adequacy of the legal norms vis-à-vis actual realities of public health and social norms in India the interdisciplinary approach is very essential.

The basic aims of this paper is to explore the provisions related to euthanasia in various international and national public health systems and to analyze the constitutional and judicial trends concerning the right to euthanasia.

Keywords: Public Health, Palliative Care, Euthanasia, Death, Assisted Suicide