Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques, and Equipment

Euthanasia

The act or practice of killing or allowing death from natural causes, for reasons of mercy, i.e., in order to release a person from incurable disease, intolerable suffering, or undignified death. (from Beauchamp and Walters, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, 5th ed)

National Library of MedicineMedical Subject Headings2026

Structured Summary

Abstract

The act or practice of killing or allowing death from natural causes, for reasons of mercy, i.e., in order to release a person from incurable disease, intolerable suffering, or undignified death. (from Beauchamp and Walters, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, 5th ed)

MeSH Record

Classification

Broader headings

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MeSH Record

See Also

MeSH Record

Synonyms

4 entry terms
  • Mercy Killing
  • Killing, Mercy
  • Killings, Mercy
  • Mercy Killings

MeSH Record

Aspects Covered

7 allowable subheadings

Indexed with the subheadings classification, ethics, history, legislation & jurisprudence, psychology, statistics & numerical data, trends.

MeSH Record

Indexing Annotation

HUMAN only; EUTHANASIA, ANIMAL is available for animals; EUTHANASIA, ACTIVE and EUTHANASIA, PASSIVE are also available

MeSH Hierarchy

Tree Numbers

  1. E02w.760w.905w.199w
  2. I01w.880w.735w.344w.500w
  3. N02.421.585w.905w.199w

MeSH Record

NLM Classification

WB 65

AMA Style

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Euthanasia. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). 2026. Unique ID D005065. http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2026/D005065
  2. Euthanasia. In: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia
  3. Euthanasia. In: Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q100159