ABSTRACT
Euthanasia and right-to-die legislation is a subject of great controversy in modern society. This paper aims to conduct a comparative and critical analysis of the euthanasia issue, including an overview of current international legal practice, with the most detailed attention paid to the Indian context. It distinguishes between euthanasia and assisted suicide and examines the differences between active and passive euthanasia, before exploring trends in the development and spread of legislation on assisted death. The paper provides information on the relevant laws in the Netherlands, Spain, New Zealand, Canada, and, provisionally, France. For India, the main questions include the evolution of the jurisprudence from Gian Kaur to Aruna Shanbaug and Common Cause, through the 2023 judgment and the latest developments in Harish Rana v. Union of India, the arguments for the right to die with dignity based on Article 21, and the restrictions imposed in the form of passive euthanasia.
The paper also explores arguments for legalizing euthanasia, such as autonomy, dignity, and relief from suffering, as well as concerns against legalization, such as the slippery slope, disability rights, religious beliefs, the role of physicians, and the availability of palliative care.Particular focus is placed on Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying program, which has been formally condemned by the United Nations and now faces the threat of being declared unconstitutional. Thus, this paper conducts a critical analysis of the euthanasia issue, considering both sides of the debate. However, the discussion focuses on addressing concerns and issues related to the practical aspects of implementing euthanasia, rather than the principle of autonomy itself.
- INTRODUCTION
The question of whether, and under what conditions, a person should be permitted to receive medical assistance in ending their own life sits at the intersection of individual liberty, medical ethics, disability justice, and constitutional interpretation. Over the past three decades, the number of jurisdictions permitting some form of euthanasia or assisted suicide has grown from a single country to more than a dozen nations and a substantial number of subnational jurisdictions.[1] This expansion has been accompanied by an equally significant body of criticism, much of it emerging not only from traditional religious and conservative sources but increasingly from disabilityrights advocates, palliativecare physicians, and international humanrights bodies who argue that legal frameworks intended to protect autonomy can, in practice, expose vulnerable persons to pressures that have little to do with genuinely free choice.
India occupies a distinctive position in this global landscape. Unlike jurisdictions that have enacted comprehensive assisted-dying statutes through their legislatures, India’s right to die with dignity has emerged almost entirely through constitutional adjudication, culminating in the Supreme Court’s recognition of passive euthanasia and advance medical directives as facets of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.[2] This judicially crafted framework recently simplified in 2023 and further clarified in 2026 offers a valuable comparative case study precisely because it demonstrates how a right can be recognised in principle while remaining constrained, and contested, in practice.
This paper does not attempt to adjudicate the underlying moral question of whether assisted dying is right or wrong. Rather, it maps the terrain: it summarises the legal status of euthanasia and assisted suicide internationally and in India, presents the principal arguments advanced by proponents, and gives sustained attention to the criticisms that have accumulated around existing legislation, drawing on Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying programme as a detailed case study of how a permissive and rapidly expanding framework has attracted international scrutiny even from bodies generally sympathetic to expanded individual rights.
[1]LegalClarity, ‘Countries Where Euthanasia is Legal and Who Qualifies’ (2026) <https://legalclarity.org/> accessed September 2026.
[2] Constitution of India 1950, art 21.