What is Euthanasia?

What is Euthanasia?

The word 'euthanasia' has had many different meanings throughout the years, making its history a reflection of the transient nature of society in how it views its moral obligations.
Euthanasia is the deliberate and intentional killing of a human being by a direct action, such as a lethal injection, or by the failure to perform even the most basic medical care such as the provision of nutrition and hydration, necessary to maintain life.
Euthanasia has a Greek origin: eu (easy, happy, painless), thanatos (death). The term apparently first appeared in the English language in the early seventeenth century in its original meaning - a gentle, easy death. The term then came to mean the doctrin...