Physician-Assisted Death: A Selected Annotated Bibliography

摘要

1 Physician-assisted death (PAD) encompasses two means of dying: physician-assisted suicide and physician-administered euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide involves a physician prescribing life-ending medication to a patient, who then self-administers that medication. In physician-administered euthanasia, the physician will administer the lethal medication to the patient, such as by injection.2 In the United States, the question of whether to legalize physician-assisted suicide in particular has long been controversial. In recent years, however, there has been a drastic shift in public opinion, with a number of national and state polls conducted since 2012 showing strong and steady support for legalization among a majority of Americans. This corresponds with a trend of increased legalization of PAD both in the United States and around the world. In the United States, as of 2018, physician-assisted suicide is now legal in seven states and the District of Columbia, and nearly two dozen states considered relevant legislation that year.Internationally, several countries or territories have already legalized or are considering legalizing physician-assisted suicide, physician-administered euthanasia, or both.