Update on Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide

A must-read review summarizes recent developments in the U.S. and abroad.

Almost 20 years ago, Oregon became the first U.S. state to legalize physician-assisted suicide (PAS). Since then, PAS has become legal in four more states (Washington, Montana, Vermont, and California). In Canada, Colombia, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, both PAS and euthanasia are allowed. In Switzerland, PAS has been legal since 1942. An international team of researchers examined several decades' worth of data on worldwide attitudes toward these controversial practices and their general patterns of use.

In recent polls, about two thirds of Americans support PAS — up from about one third in the late 1940s. Strength of support for PAS and euthanasia varies considerably depending on the words used to frame the question: When “sever…

Reviewing Author

Abigail Zuger, MD

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Abigail Zuger, MD

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Update on Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide

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Reviewing Author