Euthanasia is the act and practice of ending the life of an individual suffering from a terminal illness or an incurable condition, as by lethal injection or the suspension of extraordinary Medical treatment. Euthanasia is the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependant human being for his or her alleged benefit. Euthanasia could be voluntary, involuntary Assisted Suicide or By Action or Omission.
Voluntary Euthanasia
This is when the person who is killed has requested to be killed through a living ‘Will’ or by giving power of Attorney to a health proxy to take the decision on his/her behalf.
Involuntary Euthanasia
This is a situation when the person who is killed made an expressed wish to the contrary.
Assisted Suicide
This is a situation where someone provides an individual with the information, guidance, and means to take his or her own life with the intention that they will be used for this purpose. When it is a doctor who helps another person to kill himself, it is called “Physician Assisted Suicide.”
Euthanasia by Action
This occurs when a person intentionally causes a person’s death by performing an action such as by giving a Lethal Injection.
Euthanasia by Omission
Euthanasia by Omission is the intentional causing of death by refusing to provide ‘necessaries’ and ordinary (usual and customary) care - the act or practice of painlessly terminating the life of a person. It is accepted in some cultures. In Nigeria it may be treated as criminal and subject, to prosecution under the Criminal and Penal codes.
An exception to prosecution has been developed in some jurisdictions in which the termination of the life of an incurable ill patient is no longer treated as criminal if:
• done by a guardian or immediate family member
• after consultation with an ethics committee of a hospital, and
• accomplished by the negative means of withdrawing life support systems or extraordinary medical care rather than by some affirmative act.
In other jurisdiction like United State America, England, Canada, etc. the state is highly involved in euthanasia cases. The state can specify the number of individuals that must agree for euthanasia to be performed; the state can specify how frequently someone can sign an euthanasia authorisation. The state can also specify that only the individual can decide. Living Wills are part in the legal aspect of euthanasia. A living Will expresses a patient’s thoughts towards his/her future medical treatment. Living will allows anyone capable of making decisions to tell the doctors before hand that he/she does not wish to be put on life support.
Right to Life
The right to life asserts the sanctity of human life. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights put it thus: “Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right”.
The exceptions allowed by the Nigeria Constitution with regard to right to life, amount to a serious derogation. For example, the police may , in specified circumstances, kill in the process of arrest, of quelling a riot insurrection or mutiny. See section 33 (2) (c) of the 1999 constitution. Most constitutions provide that the right to life may be derogated from where a death sentence is imposed under due process of Law.
The right to life has often been extended in some jurisdictions to cover “the right to die” either by committing suicide or assisted suicide, as in voluntary euthanasia in case of a terminally ill patient. Several organizations exist in many parts of the world which espouse suicide and euthanasia as fundamental rights.
Dr. Akinola Aguda expressed this idea that Right to die is a fundamental postulate. He said suicide is an offence which ought to be decriminalized. He asserts that suicide is a manifestation of the illness He asked; “what does the right to life mean when indeed he feels he will be happier if that very life is taken away from him; it does not matter to him whether he lives or not? Consequently, cases of attempted suicide should not be punished; as such an action will only increase his social depressions. Euthanasia similarly is a question of morality and not of Criminal Law. Thus, people suffering from terminal diseases should in Aguda’s view have the right to end their suffering.
REFERENCES
A Aguda “New Perspectives on Law and Justice in Nigeria”: The Crisis of Justice Akure Eresu Hills Publishers 1986.
A Aguda: “Capital Punishment: Should it be abolished” in selected law lectures and papers (Associated Publishers (Nig) Ltd 1971.
A Aguda “Law as a means of Social Hygiene in the Judiciary in the Government of Nigeria, New Horn Press. 1983.
Prof Alibed: [1986] Hon Dr T. Akinola Aguda, The Man, His Work and Society Nigeria Institute of Advance Legal Studies.
Akin Ibidapo-Obe:- Essays on Human Rights Law in Nigeria: Concept Publication Ltd 2005.
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