By convention, physician-assisted suicide (PAS) refers to prescription of lethal medication to be voluntarily self-administered by the patient. Euthanasia refers to deliberate, direct causation of death by a physician (3).
Physician-assisted suicide occurs when a physician facilitates a patient's death by providing the necessary means and/or information to enable the patient to perform the life-ending act (e.g., the physician provides sleeping pills and information about the lethal dose, while aware that the patient may commit suicide).
The moral difference between killing and letting die Many people make a moral distinction between active and passive euthanasia. They think that it is acceptable to withhold treatment and allow a patient to die, but that it is never acceptable to kill a patient by a deliberate act.
Euthanasia is currently legal in seven jurisdictions: the Netherlands (since 2002), Belgium (since 2002), Luxemburg (since 2009), Colombia (since 2015), Canada (since 2016) and Victoria (since 2017) and Western Australia (since 2019) in Australia (Table 1).
ClassificationVoluntary euthanasia.Non-voluntary euthanasia.Involuntary euthanasia.Passive and active euthanasia.
The word “euthanasia” itself comes from the Greek words “eu” (good) and “thanatos” (death). The idea is that instead of condemning someone to a slow, painful, or undignified death, euthanasia would allow the patient to experience a relatively “good death.”
Passive euthanasia (so-called) is an omission. So passive euthanasia cannot cause death and hence cannot really be euthanasia. The causation argument is also seriously flawed. Most importantly, the general claim at the heart of the argument—that omissions cannot be causes—does not appear to be true.
What distinguishes active euthanasia from passive euthanasia? In passive euthanasia, the individual's death is due to withholding or withdrawing medical treatment and allowing the patient to die, rather than prescribing drugs to end their life.
Active means to painlessly letting someone die; and passive means to prevent death from natural causes for merciful reasons.
As of June 2021, the only jurisdictions that allow this procedure are Oregon, Washington D.C., Hawaii, Washington, Maine, Colorado, New Jersey, California, and Vermont. Euthanasia can be voluntary or non-voluntary. In voluntary cases, the person consents to the ending of their life.
In 1870, Samuel Williams first proposed using anesthetics and morphine to intentionally end a patient's life.
Position statement The WHPCA upholds the right for people to be involved in the decision-making process concerning their treatment or non-treatment and that a request by a person for euthanasia is identified as part of this process.
The reason why passive (voluntary) euthanasia is said to be morally permissible is that the patient is simply allowed to die because steps are not taken to preserve or prolong life.
Rachels challenges the conventional view that passive euthanasia is permissible but active euthanasia is not. This view is endorsed by the American Medical Association in a 1973 statement. But Rachels holds that in some cases active euthanasia is morally preferable to passive euthanasia on utilitarian grounds.
Active euthanasia, in the case of wanting to not prolong agony, is then by its very nature more humane than passive. This is where there is probable cause for a strong argument against the doctrine adopted by the American Medical Association.
In relation to active euthanasia, it is possible to distinguish among voluntary euthanasia, where the patient has requested euthanasia; nonvoluntary euthanasia, where the patient is incompetent and nothing is known about his or her wishes; and involuntary euthanasia, where a patient is killed against his or her will.