Title: Euthanasia Fact Sheet - The World Federation of Right to Die Societies
Headings: Euthanasia Fact Sheet
Euthanasia Fact Sheet
Introduction
Voluntary, non-voluntary and involuntary euthanasia
Active and passive euthanasia
Actions and omissions / Killing and letting die
Ordinary and extraordinary means
Intending death and foreseeing that death will occur
Conclusion
References
Further reading

Content: Euthanasia Fact Sheet - The World Federation of Right to Die Societies
Euthanasia Fact Sheet
Helga Kuhse, BIOETHICS NEWS, July 1992BACKGROUND BRIEFING* (from BIOETHICS NEWS Vol.11 No. 4 July 1992 page 40)
Helga Kuhse PhD – Director, Centre for Human Bioethics, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria
Introduction
‘Euthanasia’ is a compound of two Greek words – eu and thanatos meaning, literally, ‘a good death’. Today, ‘euthanasia’ is generally understood to mean the bringing about of a good death – ‘mercy killing,’ where one person, A, ends the life of another person, B, for the sake of B.
This understanding of euthanasia emphasizes two important features of acts of euthanasia. First, that euthanasia involves the deliberate taking of a person’s life; and, second, that life is taken for the sake of the person whose life it is – typically because she or he is suffering from an incurable or terminal disease. This distinguishes euthanasia from most other forms of taking life. Every society known to us subscribes to some principle or principles prohibiting the taking of life. But there are great variations between cultural traditions as to when the taking of life is considered wrong. If we turn to the roots of our Western tradition, we find that in Greek and Roman times such practices as infanticide, suicide and euthanasia were widely accepted. Most historians of Western morals agree that Judaism and the rise of Christianity contributed greatly to the general feeling that human life has sanctity and must not deliberately be taken.