— Also termed mercy killing. See LIVING WILL; ADVANCE DIRECTIVE. Cf. assisted suicide under SUICIDE; DYATHANASIA. [Cases: Homicide 765.] — euthanasic (yoo-th[schwa]-nay-zik), adj.
“The translation of the Greek word euthanasia — ‘easy death’ — contains an ambiguity. It connotes that the means responsible for death are painless, so that the death is an easy one. But it also suggests that the death sought would be a relief from a distressing or intolerable condition of living (or dying), so that death, and not merely the means through which it is achieved, is good or right in itself. Usually, both aspects are intended when the term euthanasia is used; but when that is not the case, there can be consequences in legal analysis.” Alexander Morgan Capron, “Euthanasia,” in 2 Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice 709, 709 (Sanford H. Kadish ed., 1983).
active euthanasia. Euthanasia performed by a facilitator (such as a healthcare practitioner) who not only provides the means of death but also carries out the final death-causing act.
involuntary euthanasia. Euthanasia of a competent, nonconsenting person.
nonvoluntary euthanasia. Euthanasia of an incompetent, and therefore nonconsenting, person.
passive euthanasia. The act of allowing a terminally ill person to die by either withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining support such as a respirator or feeding tube.
voluntary euthanasia. Euthanasia performed with the terminally ill person’s consent. [Cases: Health 913.]
