aarogya.com
  • Home
  • Complementary Medicine
    • Ayurveda
    • Homeopathy
    • Naturopathy
    • Acupressure
    • Acupuncture
    • Aromatherapy
    • Batch Flower Remedies
    • Home Remedies
    • Massage
    • Yoga
    • Meditation
    • Reiki
    • Bodywork
    • Medical Palmistry
  • Conditions & Diseases
    • Acute Diarrheal Disease
    • Appendicitis
    • Blindness
    • Brucellosis
    • Chicken Pox
    • Conjunctivitis
    • Dysentery
    • Hookworm
    • Japanese Encephalitis
    • Lymphatic Filariasis
    • Plague
    • Rubella
    • Typhoid Fever
    • Yellow Fever
    • Allergy
    • Arthritis
    • Blood Pressure
    • Computer Health Hazards
    • Chikungunya Fever
    • Dengue
    • Guinea Worm
    • Influenza
    • Leprosy
    • Malaria
    • Poliomyelitis
    • Tetanus
    • Whooping Cough
    • Viral Hepatitis
    • Amebiasis
    • Asthma
    • Bronchitis
    • Diagnostic Tests
    • Cholera
    • Diphtheria
    • Hepatitis
    • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
    • Leptospirosis
    • Measles
    • Rabies
    • Tuberculosis
    • Yaws
  • Family Health
    • Children's Health
    • Diet & Nutrition
    • First Aid
    • Fitness
    • Humor & Trivia
    • Men's Health
    • Preventive Health
    • Senior's Health
    • Senior Citizen Corner
    • Teen’s Health
    • Vets and Pets
    • Women’s Health
  • Health Resources
    • Blood Donation
    • Career Opportunities
    • Daily Health Tips
    • Health Programs
    • Featured Hospitals
    • Medical Education
    • Health Professional's Negligence
    • Medical Tourism
    • Video Eye
    • Rural Health
    • Patients' Rights Forum
  • Insurance
    • Euthanasia
    • Health Insurance
    • Health Insurance Policies
    • Insurance Companies
    • Medical Ethics
    • Medical Jurisprudence
    • Research
    • Telemedicine
    • Compare Health Insurance
  • Sex & Sexuality
    • What is Sex & Sexuality?
    • FAQs
    • Marriage & Pregnancy
    • Sex Education
  • Support Groups
    • Addiction
    • Aids
    • Cancer
    • Epilepsy
    • Swine Flu
    • Blood Search
    • Vivah
    • Health Directory
    • Alzheimer's Disease
    • Medical Support Groups
    • Cardiology
    • Depression
    • Depression Screening Test
    • Diabetes
    • Disability
    • Kidney
    • Obesity
    • Pregnancy
    • Schizophrenia
    • Vitiligo
Aarogya.com
Marathi | Gujarati | Register | Login
  • Home
  • Insurance
  • Euthanasia
  • Ethics and the Law

Ethics and the Law

  • Print
Details
Hits: 7374
Much is often made of the law as a vital force to fashion, guide and order human destiny. It is a common mistake to assume that merely because an action is not illegal, it is naturally right. The law is only a tool whereby society can ensure order and discipline and a non–chaotic way of life. It is the only way for society to empower itself and ensure harmony, so that individuals who should trample upon another’s rights are prevented from doing so. Consequently, there has to be a penal code for offenders. Society thus asserts and ensures the equally inestimable value of its members. The law does not decide or assign fundamental rights and values.

It only defines and protects them. It is not the law that makes an action good or bad. It only lays down the parameters to punish those who cross the borders. It is morality that decides what is good or bad. A law that does not have its roots in morality is a poor law indeed.

It may happen that laws are made for expediency. This is often taken to mean that it is viewed in the larger context of the greater ‘good’ of the larger number in society. This ‘good’ is as perceived by the lawmakers. It is not a numbers game and should not be made into one. In the matter of legal precedent, it is important to note the exact circumstances under which a judgment is made. A skilled advocate can slant circumstances to make his point. This vital factor must be considered in any matter of legal precedent. Dr. Kannamma Raman has indicated this factor where she points to nebulous conditions under which legal systems operate, especially in terms of punishment meted out to persons who participate in euthanasia. Obviously, compassion must be used to understand what swayed the perpetrator. This must be seriously considered in meting out punishment.

When there is an anomaly between the law as it exists and the punishment to be meted out there seems to be merit in the demand to change the law. This has happened in the Netherlands, in some American states and at least one state in Australia. Polls have been conducted to show the willingness on the part of doctors to perform euthanasia. These (particularly the law in the Netherlands) are cited to indicate a reluctance to penalise or even prosecute doctors who participate in measures that painlessly end the lives of their suffering patients. Obviously, a law that cannot be enforced needs a remedy. In the Netherlands they chose to resolve the anomaly by legalising the action with the expected provisos and safeguards to plug loop holes or afford a measure of protection against abuse.

In our country, when the Supreme Court ruled against the decision to penalise an attempted suicide there were many who hailed this as being in favour of legislation to permit voluntary euthanasia. What they did not highlight was that it only struck down Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code. Their Lordships felt that this only piled more misery on a person already so burdened by misery that he took the extreme step of ending it all! They clearly indicated the need to bring compassion in deducing culpability. This is made clearer by the fact that they pointed out that another section of the penal code still prohibits the aiding of attempts at suicide.

2

Euthanasia

  • Should We Play God?
  • The Right to Die
  • Ethics and the Law

Expert's Advice on Insurance

Expert's Advice on Insurance

Insurance: It is certainly imperative to get one’s life insured, not just for your sake, but also for the sake of the ones’ you love as well. read more…

Introducing Digital Practice for Doctors & Healthcare professionals
Swine Flu
National Award for Outstanding achievement by a Non-Professional - Tushar Sampat
Health Professional's Negligence
Health Professional's Negligence
Records of published articles in the newspapers helps common people about precautions to be taken while seeking the services from health professionals and also helps health professionals to rectify the negligence.
read more…
Specialties
Common Symptoms


Aarogya Network

aarogya.com aims to be India’s leading comprehensive health information portal. The site has sections, which cover almost all the medical specialties and give useful information on various diseases. To enhance its reach, the content is available in Indian languages too. We were the first health website to introduce online support groups. Addiction support and Epilepsy support are examples of some very active and vibrant communities.

» Click here to see all our support groups

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

 Get health related new information.

Pune Aarogya
Digital Media Dedicated to Healthcare of Punekars

Health Tools

  • Health Directory
  • Message Board
  • Health Calculators
  • Depression Screening Test

About Aarogya.com

aarogya.com aims to be India’s leading comprehensive health information portal. The site has sections, which cover almost all the medical specialties

Read more...

Suggestions

This is YOUR site, so if you have suggestions or feedback on how we can improve it for you, please let us know! We do our best to keep up!

Read more...

User Comments

“My name is Paulette Conners and I just had to send you an email thanking you since one of the pages on your site was very helpful!”

  • About Us
  • Company Profile
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Feedback
  • Disclaimer
  • Sitemap
  • Invite Your Friends

© 2017 www.aarogya.com. All Rights Reserved.