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mercy killing

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Acronyms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.06 sec.
mercy killing: see euthanasia euthanasia (y
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euthanasia

 or mercy killing

Painless killing of a person who has a painful, incurable disease or incapacitating disorder. Most legal systems consider it murder, though in many jurisdictions a physician may lawfully decide not to prolong the patient's life or may give drugs to relieve pain even if they shorten the patient's life. Associations promoting legal euthanasia exist in many countries. The legalization movement has gained ground with advancing medical technology, which has been used to prolong the lives of patients who are enduring extreme suffering or who are comatose or unable to communicate their wishes. Euthanasia was legalized in The Netherlands in 2001 and in Belgium in 2002. In 1997 Oregon became the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize physician-assisted suicide.



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? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
Whether natural selection, mercy killing, or suicide, intimations of death have gotten artists through many a hard night.
Artist curates: DIY by Scanlan, Joe / Artforum International
David Bianculli of the New York Daily News calls the decision to pull it ``a mercy killing.
SMALL SCREEN THE BUZZ ON TELEVISION by Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Everyone spits tangy rejoinders like Preston Sturges characters, but the air of harmless eccentricity has been replaced by a haze of mental breakdown, mercy killing, discreet drug abuse, discreet anti-Semitism, and not-so-discreet homophobia.
A post-screwball comedy: Igby Goes Down tries to wed the "zany rich" ... by Stuart, Jan / The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine)
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