euthanasia

Term: euthanasia

Origin: Anc Greek

ευ/eu(=prefix meaning "well, good, easy" )

θάνατος/thanatos(=death)
literally meaning “easy or good  death”

Coined

  The word euthanasia was coined in 1605 by English philosopher Francis Bacon (1561 –1626) to refer to an easy, painless, happy death that people hoped to have. Since then the use of term had different meanings depending on usage. In 1935, the first group for legalization of euthanasia, called Voluntary Euthanasia Society, was formed by a group of doctors in London. In 1938, a similar organization, known as the Hemlock Society, was established in the United States During the Second World War, the Nazis ran a "Euthanasia Programme" , an example of euphemism, under the direction of Philip Bouhler and Dr. Karl Brandt. The headquarters of the operation were at Tiergartenstrasse 4, Berlin and the code name for the program was derived from that address—T-4.. In practice it was used to exterminate "lives unworthy of life" as part of their "racial hygiene" concept and, as a result, at least 200,000 physically or mentally handicapped people were killed by medication, starvation, or in the gas chambers between 1939 and 1945. The victims were taken mainly from the medical institution and put to death

Definition

Euthanasia is the the deliberate ending a life in a manner which relieves pain and suffering. Euthanasia is an aspect of modern bioethics as in some cases patients can't make such a request. It seems that there are both and whether to stand for or against euthanasia depends on the ideology and understanding of each individual.