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Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Assisted suicide, increasingly known as assisted dying, describes the process by which a person, with the help of others, takes medications to end their own life. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is an end-of-life measure for a person suffering a painful, terminal illness. Once it is determined that the person's situation qualifies under the laws for that location, the physician's assistance is usually limited to writing a prescription for a lethal dose of drugs. Voluntary euthanasia, meanwhile, is a related but distinct practice where the doctor has a more active role (euthanasia). Both fall under the concept of the right to die.
The Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995(NT) was a law legalising euthanasia in the Northern Territory of Australia, which was passed by the territory's Legislative Assembly in 1995. The Act was passed by the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly on 25 May 1995 by a vote of 15 to 10, received the Administrator's assent on 16 June 1995, and entered into force on 1 July 1996. A year later, a repeal bill was brought before the Northern Territory Parliament in August 1996, but was defeated by 14 votes to 11.
The right to die is a concept based on the opinion that human beings are entitled to end their lives or undergo voluntary euthanasia. Possession of this right is often bestowed with the understanding that a person with a terminal illness, incurable pain, or without the will to continue living should be allowed to end their own life, use assisted suicide, or decline life-prolonging treatment. The question of who, if anyone, may be empowered to make this decision is often the subject of debate.
Compassion & Choices is a nonprofit organization in the United States working to promote what the organization views as patient autonomy and individual choice at the end of life, including access to physician assisted suicide or what the organization refers to as “aid in dying,” which in the USA is generally limited to people with terminal illnesses. The organization’s primary function is advocating for and ensuring access to “aid in dying.”
Voluntary euthanasia is the purposeful ending of another person's life at their request, in order to relieve them of suffering. Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been the focus of intense debate in the 21st century, surrounding the idea of a right to die. Some forms of voluntary euthanasia are legal in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Spain.
Suicide is a crime in some parts of the world. However, while suicide has been decriminalized in many countries, the act is almost universally stigmatized and discouraged. In some contexts, suicide could be utilized as an extreme expression of liberty, as is exemplified by its usage as an expression of devout dissent towards perceived tyranny or injustice which occurred occasionally in cultures such as ancient Rome, medieval Japan, or today's Tibet Autonomous Region.
The Hemlock Society was an American right-to-die and assisted suicide advocacy organization which existed from 1980 to 2003, which took its name from the hemlock plant Conium maculatum, a highly poisonous herb in the carrot family, as a direct reference to the method by which the Athenian philosopher Socrates took his life in 399 BC, as described in Plato's Phaedo.
Involuntary euthanasia is illegal in all 50 states of the United States. Assisted suicide is legal in 10 jurisdictions in the US: Washington, D.C. and the states of California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico, Maine, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Washington. The status of assisted suicide is disputed in Montana, though currently authorized per the Montana Supreme Court's ruling in Baxter v. Montana that "nothing in Montana Supreme Court precedent or Montana statutes [indicates] that physician aid in dying is against public policy."
Dignity in Dying is a United Kingdom nationwide campaigning organisation. It is funded by voluntary contributions from members of the public, and as of December 2010, it claimed to have 25,000 actively subscribing supporters. The organisation declares it is independent of any political, religious or other affiliations, and has the stated primary aim of campaigning for individuals to have greater choice and more control over end-of-life decisions, so as to alleviate any suffering they may be undergoing as they near the end of their life.
The legality of euthanasia varies between countries and territories. Efforts to change government policies on euthanasia of humans in the 20th and 21st centuries have met with limited success in Western countries. Human euthanasia policies have also been developed by a variety of NGOs, most advocacy organisations although medical associations express a range of perspectives, and supporters of palliative care broadly oppose euthanasia.
Laws regarding euthanasia or assisted suicide in Australia are matters for state and territory governments. As of June 2024 all states and the Australian Capital Territory have passed legislation creating an assisted suicide and euthanasia scheme for eligible individuals. These laws typically refer to the practices as "voluntary assisted dying".
There are many religious views on euthanasia, although many moral theologians are critical of the procedure.
Euthanasia in Canada in its legal voluntary form is called Medical Assistance in Dying and it first became legal along with assisted suicide in June 2016 for those whose death was reasonably foreseeable. Before this time, it was illegal as a form of culpable homicide. In March 2021, the law was further amended by Bill C-7 which to include those suffering from a grievous and irremediable condition whose death was not reasonably foreseeable. The planned inclusion of people with mental illnesses is controversial and has been repeatedly delayed. The legality of this postponement to 2027 is being challenged in court.
Ian Robert Dowbiggin is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Prince Edward Island and writer on the history of medicine, in particular topics such as euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. His research and publications have been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Associated Medical Services. In 2011, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He is the brother of Canadian sports broadcaster and author Bruce Dowbiggin.
Ruth Proskauer Smith was an American advocate for reproductive rights.
Involuntary euthanasia, typically regarded as a type of murder, occurs when euthanasia is performed on a person who would be able to provide informed consent, but does not, either because they do not want to die, or because they were not asked.
Critics of euthanasia sometimes claim that legalizing any form of the practice will lead to a slippery slope effect, resulting eventually in non-voluntary or even involuntary euthanasia. The slippery slope argument has been present in the euthanasia debate since at least the 1930s.
Exit is a not-for-profit, pro-euthanasia organisation based in Scotland that lobbies for and provides information about voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide. It has particularly focused on research and publication of works which provide information about suicide methods, including How to Die With Dignity, the first book published on the subject.
The Euthanasia Society of America was founded on January 16, 1938, to promote euthanasia. It was co-founded by Charles Francis Potter and Ann Mitchell. Alice Naumberg also helped found the group.
References
- ↑ Dowbiggin, Ian (9 January 2003). A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America. Oxford University Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-19-803515-2.
- ↑ Dowbiggin, Ian (2007). A Concise History of Euthanasia: Life, Death, God, and Medicine. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-7425-3111-6.
- 1 2 Otlowski, Margaret (1997). Voluntary Euthanasia and the Common Law. Clarendon Press. p. 274. ISBN 978-0-19-825996-1.
- ↑ Leonard, Bill (3 February 1983). "'Living will' allows you to control fate". The Des Moines Register . p. 12. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
- ↑ Scholberg, Andrew; Lyons, Dan (22 January 1981). "Eighth anniversary of 'Black Monday'". St. Cloud Times . p. 4. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
- ↑ "The Right to Die: Advocates of patients' rights advance their case against health-care tyranny". The Arizona Republic . The New York Times. 1 January 1985. p. 65. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
- ↑ McLellan, Dennis (2 May 2002). "A-J Levinson, 73; Helped Pioneer Living Wills and Patient Rights". The Los Angeles Times . p. 39. Retrieved 5 August 2022.