Euthanasia: a regional perspective

81 ANNALS EDITORIAL It is paradoxical to talk about euthanasia when we are hearing people dying all over the world without willing to die such as in Iraq, Ukraine, Egypt, Palestine and so on. Life is full of contradictions, perplexing complexities, and infinite possibilities. If you ask anyone if he or she wants to die most likely you will get an answer 'no'. On the other hand, we hear every day that people commit suicide. People are committing suicide even though we know that every species instinct is to preserve life. However, we are interested in talking about the process of euthanasia and those people who want to die of their own will or on the advice of others who are near and dear to him/her or claims that they are professional, impartial, honest, competent , and accountable. We are living in a time where choices are limited, independence has become dependence, and freedom is illusory. With these paradoxes, confusions, and unclear ethical and moral principles we want to justify or un-justify euthanasia. It appears that we are going to talk about historicism without knowing historicity. However, we have always tried to move forward even with confusing and unclear directions. Let us see where we get with this. Euthanasia is a term, which has been in debate for a while in the field of bioeth-ics research. Euthanasia has several forms –voluntary (death at patient's will), involuntary (death at other's will when patient is unconscious or not competent to decide), direct (giving patient direct lethal drug to die), indirect (providing treatment which can expedite patient death), active (death is brought about by an act), and passive (letting someone die either by withdrawing or withholding treatment). 1 Euthanasia is legal in a few countries such as the Netherland, Belgium, Lux-emburg, Norway, and Switzerland (only physician assisted suicide). 2 In most of the other countries, euthanasia is considered a criminal homicide. In the USA, a few states have recognized active euthanasia as legal such as Oregon, Washington, and Montana. 3 However, passive euthanasia is considered legal in all USA jurisdictions as it does not involve an act of killing someone rather one is letting someone die on its own naturally. 2 Do not resuscitate sometimes called " No Code " or " DNR " is a legal order in the United States. 4 However , in both cases, death is intended. In 1998, …