Active vs passive euthanasia: Which is described as 'mercy killing'?

• A. Active: performing an action that directly causes someone to die
• B. Passive: withholding treatment and letting death occur
• C. Active: allowing a patient to die by not intervening
• D. Passive: providing palliative care to relieve pain

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is what “mercy killing” refers to in euthanasia. It describes active euthanasia, where a deliberate action is taken to directly cause death to end suffering. That is why the description of performing an action that directly causes someone to die fits best.

Withholding or withdrawing treatment is passive; death occurs because the body can no longer sustain life without those interventions. So it is not mercy killing, but passive euthanasia.

Saying that active euthanasia means allowing a patient to die by not intervening describes the passive form, not the active one.

Providing palliative care to relieve pain is about comfort and does not hasten death, so it isn’t euthanasia at all.