The Russian government submitted a bill to the lower house of parliament on Thursday that would officially ban euthanasia, preempting any attempt to introduce the practice into Russian law.
The main purpose of the healthcare protection bill is to review medical assistance standards drawn up in 1993, said Professor Tatyana Yakovleva, first deputy head of the ruling United Russia faction.
"This bill has also dotted the i's on the euthanasia discussion," Yakovleva said. "The fundamental law of domestic healthcare establishes that a doctor cannot turn into an executioner."
There has been some discussion in Russia of the merits of euthanasia, and bill to allow patients suffering from incurable diseases to be euthanized at their own request was blocked in 2007.
MOSCOW, April 21 (RIA Novosti)
