Euthanasia in India
The law on Euthanasia in India distinguishes between active and passive euthanasia.
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Forms of active euthanasia, including the administration of lethal compounds, legal in a number of nations and jurisdictions including Luxemburg, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as the US states of Washington and Oregon, are still illegal in India.
Passive euthanasia (more commonly known as withholding and/or withdrawal of life support) has been legal in India in a limited set of circumstances since the Supreme Court's judgments in Aruna Shanbaug (2011), Common Cause (2018), and an order modifying the guidelines issued in Common Cause (2023).
Patients must consent through a living will, and must be either terminally ill or in a vegetative state. The procedural guidelines were streamlined and relaxed by the Supreme Court in January 2023.