In addition to Canada, several countries and U.S. states have legalized some form of medical aid in dying (MAiD), including Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Colombia, Australia, France, and New Zealand. Within the United States, ten jurisdictions allow some form of MAiD: Oregon, Washington, California, Vermont, Montana (via court ruling), Colorado, Washington, D.C., Hawaii, New Jersey, Maine, and New Mexico. Each state has specific eligibility requirements, procedures, and safeguards to regulate the practice (Death with Dignity National Center, 2022; Compassion & Choices, 2022). U.S. states generally limit MAiD to terminally ill, mentally capable adults with a prognosis of six months or less to live, with strict procedural guidelines to ensure voluntary choice and informed consent.

Assisted Dying Terminology in the U.S.

Commonly used terms:

• Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD): Often used in U.S. and Canada.
• Physician-Assisted Death or Physician-Assisted Dying: Emphasizes the physician’s role in providing aid.
• Aid in Dying: A general term frequently used in advocacy and legal contexts.

Outdated or inaccurate terms:

• Assisted Suicide or Physician-Assisted Suicide: These terms are generally discouraged, as they may imply a lack of consent or voluntariness, misrepresenting the practice of MAiD.
• (Active) Euthanasia: This term implies that the physician directly administers life-ending treatment, which is illegal in the U.S. and is distinct from MAiD, where the patient self-administers the prescribed medication (Compassion & Choices, 2022; Death with Dignity National Center, 2022; Ubel, 2013).

Each term reflects different cultural and legal nuances. In the U.S., “Medical Aid in Dying” and “Death with Dignity” are preferred to emphasize patient autonomy and to distinguish it from other forms of end-of-life practices.

Click the link below to learn more which countries permit assisted dying:

Assisted Dying Around the World

In Switzerland, there is no specific law permitting or outlawing assisted dying (Roehr, 2021). Under Swiss Criminal Law, assisted dying has been tolerated since 1937, provided that the person who is providing the required assistance has no selfish motive (Blouin, 2018; Roehr, 2021). Switzerland is one of a few countries that permits non-residents to access assisted dying, earning the country the reputation of a “suicide tourism” destination (Blouin, 2018).

Click the link below to learn more the Swiss model of the right to die:

Suicide Tourism” & Understanding the Swiss Model of the Right to Die

 

VIDEO: Brittany Maynard – A Video for My Friends

In the following video Brittany Maynard, a young American woman with terminal brain cancer, talks about her decision to end her life “when the time seems right” and why she became an advocate for the legalization of assisted death.

References

• Death with Dignity National Center. (2022). Death with Dignity acts by state. Retrieved from https://deathwithdignity.org
• Compassion & Choices. (2022). Medical aid in dying. Retrieved from https://www.compassionandchoices.org
• Ubel, P. A. (2013). Physician-assisted dying: What everyone needs to know. Oxford University Press.