Legalized euthanasia or Assisted suicide

While France is currently debating the possibility of legalizing assisted suicide, with the aim of implementing measures next year, other countries have already legalized this procedure some time ago.

𝐄𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐚 is the 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 to relieve suffering - for example, a lethal injection administered by a doctor. 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 is defined as the act of 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐚 simply requests 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐧 from the patient. 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 to authorize any form of assisted dying in 1941. Although active euthanasia is prohibited in this country, the law provides means to die by prescribing lethal medication, provided that the recipient self- administers the drug.

In 2002, Netherlands legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide, under a set of strict conditions according to a patient’s illness at his express request. Since 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐, 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟎 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 and parts of the USA. There are many differences between the conditions of access to these procedures, which are constantly evolving. On the other hand, 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟗 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, including France. Numerous people object to medically assisted death, be it for 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬.

Religions consider voluntary death to be 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥, while ethical concerns are expressed 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲. There is much to be learned from the countries where euthanasia or assisted suicide have been legalized.