Medical Aid in Dying Is NOT Suicide, Assisted Suicide or Euthanasia

Medical aid in dying is fundamentally stricken with life-ending illnesses. They feel different from euthanasia. While both deeply offended when the medical practice is practices are designed to bring about a referred to as suicide or assisted suicide. peaceful death, the distinction between the two comes down to who administers the means to Leading medical organizations reject that peaceful death. Euthanasia is an intentional the term “physician-assisted suicide.” act by which another person (not the dying The American Academy of Hospice and person) administers the medication. By contrast, Palliative Medicine, American Medical Women’s medical aid in dying requires the patient to be Association, American Medical Student Associa- able to take the medication themselves and tion, American Academy of Family Physicians and therefore always remain in control. Euthanasia is American Public Health Association have all illegal throughout the United States. adopted policies opposing the use of the terms “suicide” and “assisted suicide” to describe the State legislatures and courts in states medical practice of aid in dying. The American where the practice is authorized Association of Suicidology, a nationally recognized recognize medical aid in dying as organization that promotes prevention of suicide differing from suicide, assisted suicide or through research, public awareness programs, euthanasia. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are education and training comprised of respected both illegal in jurisdictions where medical aid in researchers and mental health professionals, dying is authorized. Medical aid-in-dying laws documents 15 ways medical aid in dying is funda- on the books in California, Colorado, the District mentally distinct from suicide and “a matter of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Maine, New Jersey, Oregon, outside the central focus of the AAS.” Vermont and Washington expressly state: “Actions taken in accordance with [the Act] shall not, for The most prominent professional any purpose, constitute suicide, assisted suicide, society in the United States address- mercy killing or homicide.” And in Montana, where ing issues that arise at the interface of assisted suicide is specifically illegal, the Montana law and medicine rejects the term “physician- Supreme Court ruled in Baxter v. Montana that assisted suicide.” The American College of Legal medical aid in dying provided to terminally ill, Medicine filed an amicus brief before the United mentally competent adult patients in no way violates States Supreme Court in 1996 rejecting the term established state law [including Montana’s assisted and adopted a resolution in 2008 in which they suicide statute] or the principles of public policy.” “publicly advocat[ed the] elimination of the word ‘suicide’ from the lexicon created by a mentally The American Association of Suicidology competent, though terminally ill, person who (AAS) recognizes that the practice of wishes to be aided in dying.” medical aid in dying is distinct from the behavior that has been traditionally and ordinarily described as “suicide.” People who seek medical aid in dying want to live but are

For more information, visit CompassionAndChoices.org Updated: 1.6.21