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A 17-year-old Belgian from Belgium became the first child to die by euthanasia after the country adopted new rules in 2014. This move makes Belgium the only country where children of all ages can choose to receive lethal injections. Daily Mail. In neighboring Netherlands, this practice is still considered illegal for children under 12 years of age (patients aged 12-16 years require parental consent).

There are many different views, opinions, and concepts that have been expressed about euthanasia. While for some people euthanasia is the patient's right to self-determination, for others euthanasia is tantamount to murder, a violation of human life, and a violation of the human right to life.

What is euthanasia?

Euthanasia is the deliberate act of ending the life of someone who is very sick and suffering - who is overwhelmed by unbearable and incurable pain - in a relatively quick and painless manner, for humanitarian reasons. This practice can be done either by taking active measures, including giving lethal injection, or by not doing what is necessary to keep the patient alive (such as letting the breathing apparatus stop working).

In many cases, the decision to "commit suicide" is made at the patient's own request, but there are times when the individual may be too ill and helpless that the decision is made by the family, medical personnel, or in some cases, by the court.

The term euthanasia comes from the Greek word "euthanatos" which means easy death.

Know the types of euthanasia

Euthanasia takes various forms:

• Active euthanasia: someone (healthcare professional) acts directly and actively, deliberately causing the patient's death - for example, by injecting large doses of a sedative.
• Passive euthanasia: health professionals do not act directly in ending a patient's life, they only allow patients to die in the absence of a medical facility - for example, suspending or withholding treatment options.
  • Stopping treatment: for example, turning off the machines that keep someone alive, so that they die from their illness.
  • Withholding medication: for example, abstaining from surgery that will prolong life for a short time or DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) orders - doctors are not required to resuscitate patients if their heart stops and are designed to prevent unnecessary suffering.
• Voluntary euthanasia: occurs at the request of a competent patient. The patient is fully aware of the condition of the disease / is informed, understands what the future holds for the disease, is aware of the benefits and risks associated with the choice of treatment for his disease, and can clearly communicate their wishes without being under anyone's influence, and asks medical professionals to end his life
• Non-voluntary euthanasia: occurs when the patient is unconscious or unable to make autonomic choices between life and death (for example, a newborn or someone with low intelligence, the patient is in a long coma or has severe brain damage), and decisions are made by other people who competent on behalf of the patient, possibly according to their written inheritance document, or the patient has previously verbally expressed a desire to die. This practice also includes cases where patients are children who are capable and competent to make decisions mentally and emotionally, but are deemed not old enough by law to make life and death decisions, so that someone else has to make decisions on their behalf in the eyes of the law.
  
• Involuntary euthanasia: aka coercion, occurs when another party ends a patient's life against their statement of genuine desire. For example, even though the patient wanted to continue to live even though he was suffering, his family asked the doctor to end his life. Involuntary euthanasia is almost always considered homicide.
  

Where is euthanasia legal?

There are several countries where euthanasia is allowed:

• In the Netherlands, euthanasia and the physician-assisted suicide, or PAS) permitted by law, provided that it follows a clear legal protocol.
• In Oregon, United States, PAS allowed the state to use prescription drugs.
• In Washington DC, United States, doctors are allowed to administer lethal injection or assist PAS by allowing drug overdoses that lead to death in the requesting patient.
• In Belgium, “killing in the name of medical and compassion” is permitted by law for both competent adults and children, with detailed and clear guidelines to be followed. Parents must agree with this decision.
• In Switzerland, PAS is allowed, under a law that is active for more than 600 years. Patients, including visitors from other countries, may be assisted by members of the Dignitas organization to end their lives.
• For a short period of time, euthanasia and PAS were permitted in Northern Australia and seven people ended their lives this way, before the Australian Federal Government overturned the law.

What are the terms and conditions for a patient to request a euthanasia procedure?

Basically, the euthanasia procedure may be performed on a patient who is suffering from a terminal illness (the late phase of the disease where the chance of death is so great that the focus shifts from therapy to cure the disease to providing palliative care). However, the problem lies not in the definition but in the interpretation of the definition.

In the Netherlands where euthanasia is supported by law, "terminal disease" has a concrete definition, literally meaning "hope of death is certain". In Oregon, where the PAS (physician-assisted suicide) is legal for a "terminal case," terminal is described as a condition that "under reasonable judgment would result in death within six months."

In addition, by definition, euthanasia also allows a severely suffering patient to ask for life termination assistance. Research has also shown that critically ill patients who tend to think about suicide do so not because of their terminal illness, but because of major depression resulting from their illness. Zurich's 1998 World Federation of Right to Die Societies declaration states that persons "suffering crippling adversity" are eligible for suicide assistance. The institute believes that a person does not need to have terminal illness in order to be eligible for euthanasia or PAS, as long as "the suffering is unbearable".

The definition of "unbearable suffering" is open to interpretation. According to the Dutch Supreme Court, suffering is defined as suffering both physical and psychological, whereas Belgian law states that "a patient requesting euthanasia must be in a medical situation of despair and constantly suffer physically or psychologically."

Why is euthanasia allowed?

Those who support euthanasia argue that a civilized society must allow people to die in dignity and painless, and should allow others to help them do so if they cannot manage it themselves.

They say that the body is the prerogative of its own owner, and we should be allowed to do what we want with our own bodies. So they think it's wrong to seek a longer life for those who don't want it. It even keeps people alive when they don't want to violate personal freedoms and human rights. It is immoral, they say, to force people to continue living in suffering and pain.

They added that suicide is not a crime and therefore euthanasia should not be classified as a crime.

Why do so many prohibit the practice of euthanasia?

The argument from religious bodies against euthanasia is that life is given by God, and only God has to decide when to end it.

Others worry that if euthanasia is made legal, the laws that govern it will be abused, and people who don't really want to die (or can still get further medical help) will end up having their lives.

Euthanasia belongs to Indonesian criminal law

There has been no specific law or government regulation stating the legality of euthanasia in Indonesia to date. However, it is important to understand that in formal juridical terms in positive criminal law in Indonesia there is only one form of euthanasia, namely euthanasia which is carried out at the request of the patient / victim himself (voluntary euthanasia), which has been clearly regulated in Article 344 of the Criminal Code:

"Anyone who takes the life of another person at the request of his own person which is clearly stated with the seriousness of his heart, shall be punished by a maximum imprisonment of twelve years".

From Article 344 of the Criminal Code, it can be interpreted that murder at the request of the victim is still punishable by the perpetrator. Thus, in the context of positive law in Indonesia, euthanasia is considered a prohibited act. That is, it is not possible to do "ending one's life" even at the request of that person.

Furthermore, when discussing non-voluntary euthanasia, although it cannot be qualified as the same concept of euthanasia as stated in article 344 of the Criminal Code, conceptually this method of euthanasia is most likely (or close to) considered ordinary murder (article 338 of the Criminal Code), premeditated murder (Article 340 KUHP), maltreatment with dangerous materials (Article 356 KHUP), or negligence that leads to death (Article 304 and Article 306).

Thus, this medical procedure is still classified as a criminal offense.

The options you have when you have terminal illness

If you are nearing the end of life, you have the right to good palliative care - to control pain and other symptoms - as well as psychological, social and spiritual support. You also have the right to have a say in the care you receive at this stage.

If you know that your ability to agree to decisions about your life may be affected in the future, you can arrange legally binding upfront decisions, assisted by your legal team. This upfront decision is to establish procedures and treatments that you agree to and which you disagree with. This means that the healthcare professional responsible for you cannot perform certain procedures or treatments against your will.