-The Times of India MUMBAI: The city has held a special spot in the four-decades-long battle to demand a dignified exit for very ill persons who are beyond treatment and unlikely to live a quality life. On Friday, the SC judgment legalising Passive Euthanasia and living will was welcomed by those championing the cause, but they called it just the beginning of a long journey ahead. One of the earliest demands for...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a milestone verdict expanding the right to life to incorporate the right to die with dignity, the Supreme Court on Friday legalised Passive Euthanasia and approved 'living will' to provide terminally ill patients or those in persistent and incurable vegetative state (PVS) a dignified exit by refusing medical treatment or life support. The verdict, the latest in a string of boosts for individual freedoms by...

-The Hindu After 14 years of debates and several draft Bills, the government has said it is ready to frame a statutory law on Passive Euthanasia, the act of withdrawing medical treatment with deliberate intention of causing the death of a terminally-ill patient. However, it said its “hands are stayed” because of a pending litigation in the Supreme Court on mercy killing. The affidavit filed by the Ministry of Health and Family...

-The Indian Express The Union government has decided to decriminalise suicide. A funny interpretation could well be that the Modi government can now commit hara kiri with impunity. But it should be noted that the cases under Section 309, which criminalises suicide, are haphazard, often concealing abetment to murder. Philosophically, it is argued that the right to life includes the right to die without provocation or abetment by anyone else. In a...

Almost a year after the Supreme Court legalised Passive Euthanasia (mercy killing), allowing withdrawal of life support for patients living in a permanent vegetative condition, the government has decided to stay out of the issue and not make any law on the subject. The Supreme Court in its March 7 judgment last year had specified guidelines for high courts to follow before giving a final go-ahead for withdrawal of life-sustaining drugs...