Project Summary
Today there is ranging controversy all over the world as to its legal standing aside from the moral and ethical issues involved. Having seen that the law is not unprepared to reexamine former rigid attitude toward the sanctity of life those in favour of Euthanasia exhibit some zeal in supporting their views (Vij Krishan, 2008). The opponents of Euthanasia state that there are moral, religious and ethical obligations which cannot be ignored. They argue that no one has right to take away the life of an individual not even individual him or herself. The concept of sanctity of life is inviolable and doctors having taken an oath (The Hippocratic oath) “to preserve life at all cost” cannot justify a patient to die or passive means (Pillay, 2010). Euthanasia is may be good for the person who is really in a severe pain but at same side it may be dangerous if advantage is taken in wrong way, so it is must necessary that it should be done in a supervision with the rules. However, the result of implication of euthanasia needs to be reexamined again at regular intervals depending upon the evolution of society with regard to providing health care to disabled and terminally ill patients. The survey results will help in forming rules of euthanasia.
Euthanasia encompasses various dimensions, from active (introducing something to cause death) to passive (withholding treatment or supportive measures); voluntary (consent) to involuntary (consent from guardian) and physician assisted (where physician's prescribe the medicine and patient or the third party administers the medication to cause death thus it can be said that euthanasia and or assisted suicide is illegal in Nigeria. This illegal status is however not as a result of any special legislation, but as based on existing laws which do not specifically provide for euthanasia and assisted suicide. One last point requires emphasis: Contrary to widespread belief, competence is not an existential state, a state of being. It is not people who are competent but decisions. So the same person may be competent to make one decision but not another. This is the case with young children, those with dementia, the confused old, mental health patients, and individuals temporarily or permanently unconscious. There are many instances in health care where the patient’s consent is appealed to and used, where her actual consent is unobtainable. These are circumstances in which the patient is either unconscious or unable to process the information required to give a valid consent, or is temporarily or permanently lacking the relevant capacity to consent. Again, children are an obvious case in point.
