I think that making a comparison to dystopian novels, like The Giver, isn't really effective. An important fact about Euthanasia in humans (in modern reality) is -where it's legal- it's completely voluntary. There is no social or class pressure forcing people to go that route and it's not something that people can go into easily (meaning that they have to be found of sound mind and competent to make the decision).
“Say the government pulls a Giver and kills off everyone that shows signs of them...” Euthanasia without consent of the patient isn't euthanasia, it's murder. The government killing people who are ill isn't euthanasia in this sense, it's murder.
It doesn't make sense to compare modern euthanasia in humans – what has been legalized in places like The Netherlands and Switzerland – to the forced euthanasia practiced in novels or even in animals.
“Say the government pulls a Giver and kills off everyone that shows signs of them...” Euthanasia without consent of the patient isn't euthanasia, it's murder. The government killing people who are ill isn't euthanasia in this sense, it's murder.
It doesn't make sense to compare modern euthanasia in humans – what has been legalized in places like The Netherlands and Switzerland – to the forced euthanasia practiced in novels or even in animals.
Choice makes all the difference.