Indian church commends Supreme Court for reasserting ban on euthanasia

The Catholic leaders in India have expressed approval for the high court's decision to junk the request for the mercy killing of a patient in a vegetative state for 11 years. 

In a CNA report on August 22, Archbishop Raphy Manjaly of the Archdiocese of Agra expressed gratitude to the supreme court for the decision. 

“We would like to congratulate the Court for its unambiguous verdict while calling for support for the family facing a serious crisis," said Manjaly, chair of the doctrinal commission of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India. 

“We are extremely happy that the sacredness of life has been upheld by the court,” he noted. 

The supreme court dismissed a petition by the parents of the 30-year-old male patient for euthansia in 2021.

“The facts indicate that the petitioner is not being kept alive mechanically and is able to sustain himself without any external aid,” the high court stated. 

The patient eats by way of nasal tube feeding. He has been comatose after he fell from a hostel balcony while he was an engineering student in 2013.

India's Supreme Court in 2018 made clear the law “prohibits anyone, including a physician, from causing the death of another person by administering any lethal drug, even if the objective is to relieve the patient from pain and suffering.”

Passive euthanasia is allowed by law in cases when the physicians removed the mechanical life support from the patient. The removal of the nasal feeding tube is not allowed under the rule. 

Despite the rejection of the petition for assisted suicide, the court saw the suffering and the need for assistance of the patient's parent. 

"While taking a clear pro-life stance, the judgment acknowledges that there is definitely a crisis," the prelate said. 

"The suffering family cannot be pushed into a corner. We are happy that the court insists on community support for the distraught family,” he said.