The court distinguished between two forms of euthanasia: active and passive. ‘Active euthanasia’ denotes the use of lethal substances to end a person’s life, while ‘passive euthanasia’ entails the withholding of any medical treatment (such as life-saving antibiotics) that would ensure the survival of a patient. The difference between the two is that in case of active euthanasia the procedure that causes death would have caused the death of any person, regardless of the person’s physical condition (for instance, the use of a lethal injection). This is not so in the case of passive euthanasia.
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