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Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or another healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the person's situation qualifies under the physician-assisted suicide laws for that location, the physician's assistance is usually limited to writing a prescription for a lethal dose of drugs.
The Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995 (NT) was a controversial law legalising euthanasia in the Northern Territory of Australia, which was passed by the territory's Parliament 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 life or undergo voluntary euthanasia. Possession of this right is often understood 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 to 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 improve patient autonomy and individual choice at the end of life, including access to medical aid in dying. Its primary function is advocating for and ensuring access to aid in dying
Voluntary euthanasia (VE) is the ending of a 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 recent years.
The Hemlock Society was an American right-to-die and assisted suicide advocacy organization which existed from 1980 to 2003. It was co-founded in Santa Monica, California by British author and activist Derek Humphry, his wife Ann Wickett Humphry and Gerald A. Larue. It relocated to Oregon in 1988 and, according to Humphry, had several homes over the course of its life. The group took its name from Conium maculatum, a highly poisonous biennial herbaceous flowering plant in the carrot family. The name was a direct reference to the method by which the Athenian philosopher Socrates took his life in 399 BC, as described in Plato's Phaedo.
Euthanasia is currently 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.
Exit International is an international non-profit organisation advocating legalisation of voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide. It was previously known as the Voluntary Euthanasia Research Foundation.
The legality of euthanasia varies depending on the country. Efforts to change government policies on euthanasia of humans in the 20th and 21st centuries have met limited success in Western countries. Human euthanasia policies have also been developed by a variety of NGOs, most notably medical associations and advocacy organizations. As of 2022, euthanasia is legal in Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and all six states of Australia. Euthanasia was briefly legal in the Northern Territory between 1996 and 1997, but was overturned by a federal law. In 2021, a Peruvian court allowed euthanasia for a single person, Ana Estrada.
Laws regarding euthanasia or assisted suicide in Australia are matters for state and territory governments. As of May 2022 all states have passed legislation creating an assisted suicide scheme for eligible individuals. These laws typically refer to assisted suicide 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 (MAID) and it first became legal along with assisted suicide in June 2016 to allow terminally ill adults to control their deaths. In March 2021, the law was further amended by Bill C-7 which permits assisted euthanasia in additional situations, including for people with disabiliies and chronic diseases. In 2021, more than 10,000 people died by euthanasia in Canada. The intensity and breadth of Canada's MAiD program has led to condemnation of its program by UN human rights experts and all disability rights groups in Canada.
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 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 in 1938 to promote euthanasia. It was co-founded by Charles Francis Potter and Ann Mitchell. Alice Naumberg also helped to 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.