Killing and letting-go
It is with such belief that Buddhism is strongly against active euthanasia where direct killing is involved by doctors, relatives or friends. But in the case of passive euthanasia Buddhism draws the distinction between "letting go" of life and "killing". "Letting go" means neither hastening death nor unnecessary prolonging of life. Prolonging death unnecessarily means prolonging suffering while "letting go", allowing death to come naturally, will lessen suffering as long as there is appropriate pain maintenance and total care of the patients and their families.