Your gift counts double until 5/31: $24,787 to go in our Easter Campaign. Please help now!

India's top court rejects 'mercy killing' but allows 'passive euthanasia'

CWN - March 07, 2011

The federal supreme court of India on Monday a plea to approve 'mercy killing' in a highly publicized case, but allowed for "passive euthanasia" by the removal of the patient's life-support system.

The Supreme Court made its ruling on the case of Aruna Shanbaug, a former nurse who has been living in a Mumbai Hospital for 37 years since a brutal attack left her with severe brain damage. The court congratulated the hospital staff for the loving care the patient had received over the years, but said life-support systems could be withdrawn, now that Shanbaug has become unresponsive.

The court rejected a bid to end the woman's life with a lethal injection. "Active euthanasia is illegal," the court ruled. "Passive euthanasia is permissible, but it should be done under the supervision of the High Court."

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Easter Campaign:
Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($24,787 to go):
$80,000.00 $55,212.55
31% 69%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.

Catholic World News Email Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

The Ideal of Pope Francis: the Servant Church 4 hours ago
The sad decline of self-government 20 hours ago
That impromptu exorcism again 24 hours ago
The Mystery of the Spirit May 21
Against a Facile Assurance of Salvation, the Need for Mystery May 21

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Pope strongly supports call for reform in religious life CWN - May 8