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Relevent background information •About euthanasia:

the word originated from the Greek language: eu--“good”and thanasia--death

•Now it refers to mercy killing, or intentionally ending the life of someone who is hopelessly sick or injured in order to save them from suffering.

•Euthanasia is a complex issue with many underlying theological, sociological, religious and moral aspects. It is heavily

Euthanasia is classified according to whether a person gives informed consent into three types: voluntary, non-voluntary and involuntary.There is a debate within the medical and bioethics literature about whether or not the non-voluntary (and by extension, involuntary) killing of patients can be regarded as euthanasia, irrespective of intent or the patient's circumstances.

Voluntary euthanasia

Euthanasia conducted with the consent of the patient is termed voluntary euthanasia. Active voluntary euthanasia is legal in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Passive voluntary euthanasia is legal throughout the U.S. per Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health. When the patient brings about his or her own death with the assistance of a physician, the term assisted suicide is often used instead. Assisted

suicide is legal in Switzerland and the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington and Montana.

Non-voluntary euthanasia

Euthanasia conducted where the consent of the patient is unavailable is termed non-voluntary euthanasia. Examples include child euthanasia, which is illegal worldwide but decriminalised under certain specific circumstances in the Netherlands under the Groningen Protocol. Involuntary euthanasia

Euthanasia conducted against the will of the patient is termed involuntary euthanasia.

安乐死是70年代以来国内外医学界、哲学界和伦理学界讨论最为热烈的问题之一，至今尚未取得一致的意见。“安乐死”来源于希腊文，意思是无痛苦的、幸福的死亡。它包括两层含义，一是无痛苦的死亡，安然的去世；二是无痛致死术，为结束患者的痛苦而采取致死的措施。对安乐死的理解有广义和狭义之分。广义的理解包括一切因为“健康”的原因致死，任其死亡和自杀；狭义的理解则把安乐死局限于对患有不治之症的病人或死亡已经开始的病人，不再采取人工的方法延长其死亡过程，为制止剧烈疼痛的折磨不得不采用可能加速死亡的药物。安乐死可分为被动与主动、自愿与非自愿安乐死。被动安乐死是消极的安乐死，停止治疗和抢救措施，任晚期病人自行死亡；主动安乐死又称积极安乐死，由医务人员采取给药加速死亡，结束其痛苦的生命，让其安然舒服地离开人世。自愿安乐死是指病人本人要求或同意采取安乐死；非自愿安乐死是指对那些无行为能力的病人施行安乐死，如有严重畸形的婴儿、脑死亡(整个脑机能出现不可逆转地停止，没有反应、感受、运动和反射等)病人，他们无法表示自己的愿望，由别人提出安乐死的建议。

安乐死- 各国看法

日本：1976年，日本东京举行了“安乐死国际会议”，在其宣言中强调指出：尊重人“生的意义”和“庄严之死”。日本是世界上第一个有条件承认安乐死的国家。1995年3月28日，日本横滨地方法院判处一名姓“德永”的医生“谋杀晚期癌症病人”。地方法院列出四种允许“仁慈杀死（安乐死）”的条件：1，病人遭受不可忍受的肉体痛苦；2，病人不可避免地、即将死亡；3，所有可能减轻其痛苦的医疗手段都已尝试过，不可能有其他办法挽救其生命或减轻其痛苦；4，病人清楚表达了缩短生命的意愿。横滨地方法院裁定，德永医生的行为没有符合上述条件，因为病人虽然将在几天内死亡，却没有清楚表达自己正遭受肉体痛苦，或主动表达接受安乐死的意愿。德永医生的行为不可视为实施“安乐死”，因此判其入狱两年，缓期执行。