In The Giver, what can the House of the Old be compared with in today's society?

In The Giver, the House of the Old is a serene and slow-paced institution where the Ceremony of Release takes place. This is an age-old ritual in which those elderly folk no longer deemed productive are to be "released" (i.e., killed). Most people in this society are blissfully unaware of what happens to those forced to participate in this creepy ceremony. They labor under the misapprehension that those chosen to be "released" leave the community for another, better place. In actual fact, however, the released are killed with a lethal injection, as if they were murderers on death row.
The Ceremony of Release is clearly a form of euthanasia, a practice which involves the intentional ending of life to relieve pain and suffering. In a small number of countries—most notably, Switzerland—some form of euthanasia is legal. Though it should be pointed out that there's a huge difference between the practice of euthanasia or assisted dying in the world today and that which operates in the community of The Giver. There, it's the community that gets to decide which people are to be "released," whereas in countries where euthanasia is legal, the decision is made by individuals themselves, who, for one reason or another, feel that they can no longer go on with their lives.