Abortion_Suicide_and_Euthanasia.pdf. Religions - Buddhism: Euthanasia and suicide. Buddhism Guide | Buddhism and Euthanasia. Euthanasia, taken from a Greek word meaning a good death, refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering. There are two different types of euthanasia, namely voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia is when death is hastened with the consent of the dying person, and involuntary is when no consent is possible because the dying person is brain dead or in a long term coma. It can be further divided into active and passive euthanasia. Active is when something is done to end life, such as a lethal injection, and passive is when treatment is withdrawn and nature is left to take its course. Laws on euthanasia are different from country to country, so here I am only looking at the moral implications of euthanasia and not the legal.
Buddhism places great emphasise on not killing living beings, in fact, it is the first of the five precepts. So at first glance you would think euthanasia is wrong within Buddhism.