Euthanasia Definitions

• Euthanasia: the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit. (The key word here is "intentional". If death is not intended, it is not an act of euthanasia)
• Also called mercy killing. the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, a person or animal suffering from an incurable, esp. a painful, disease or condition.
• Voluntary euthanasia: When the person who is killed has requested to be killed.
• to make it legal for a competent adult suffering unbearably from an incurable illness to receive medical help to die at their own considered and persistent request.
• Non-voluntary: When the person who is killed made no request and gave no consent.
• Involuntary euthanasia: When the person who is killed made an expressed wish to the contrary.
• Assisted suicide: Someone provides an individual with the information, guidance, and means to take his or her own life with the intention that they will be used for this purpose. When it is a doctor who helps another person to kill themselves it is called "physician assisted suicide."
• The deliberate hastening of death by a terminally ill patient with assistance from a doctor, family member, or another individual.
• Euthanasia By Action: Intentionally causing a person's death by performing an action such as by giving a lethal injection.
• Euthanasia By Omission: Intentionally causing death by not providing necessary and ordinary (usual and customary) care or food and water.