MAID: Medical aid in dying

Introduction
Pros
- Pro 1: MAID allows terminally ill people to choose a “good death.”
- Pro 2: MAID is a matter of bodily autonomy, a right everyone should have.
- Pro 3: MAID ensures thoughtful regulation of the practice.
Cons
- Con 1: MAID dangerously normalizes suicide.
- Con 2: MAID endangers vulnerable groups, including seniors, people with disabilities, young people suffering from mental illness, and people of color.
- Con 3: MAID is a slippery slope to legal euthanasia, or worse.
Euthanasia & medical aid in dying (MAID) around the world
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Canada
- China
- Colombia
- Denmark
- Ecuador
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- India
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- The Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Philippines
- Portugal
- Russia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, & Wales)
- Uruguay
Religious perspectives on euthanasia and medical aid in dying
- Pro: Unitarian Universalist Association
- Unclear: National Baptist Convention
- Unclear: Presbyterian Church USA
- Unclear: United Church of Christ
- Con: Assemblies of God
- Con: Buddhism
- Con: Catholic Church
- Con: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon Church)
- Con: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
- Con: Episcopal Church
- Con: Greek Orthodox
- Con: Hinduism
- Con: Islam
- Con: Jehovah’s Witnesses
- Con: Judaism
- Con: Seventh-Day Adventist Church
- Con: Southern Baptist Convention
- Con: United Methodist Church
U.S. medical aid in dying laws
- 0 federal laws on euthanasia and medical aid in dying (MAID)
- 13 states and D.C. in which MAID is legal
  - California
  - Colorado
  - Delaware
  - D.C.
  - Hawaii
  - Illinois
  - Maine
  - Montana
  - New Jersey
  - New Mexico
  - New York
  - Oregon
  - Vermont
  - Washington
- 38 states in which MAID is illegal
Landmark American euthanasia and medical aid in dying court cases
- In re Quinlan: March 31, 1976
- Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health: June 25, 1990
- Washington v. Glucksberg: June 26, 1997
- Vacco v. Quill: June 26, 1997
- People v. Kevorkian: November 20, 2001
- Bush v. Schiavo: September 23, 2004
- Gonzales v. Oregon: January 17, 2006
Historical timeline
- 500 BC-16th century AD
  - 5th century B.C.-1st century B.C. - Ancient Greeks and Romans tend to support euthanasia
  - 12th century-15th century – Christian views on euthanasia reinforce Hippocratic oath
  - 13th century – During Middle Ages Christians and Jews tend to oppose euthanasia
- 17th century-19th century
  - 17th century – Common law tradition prohibits suicide and assisted suicide in the American colonies
  - 17th–18th century – Renaissance and Reformation writers challenge church opposition to euthanasia
  - Late 18th century – American evangelical Christians reject suicide and euthanasia
  - 1828 – First U.S. statute outlawing assisted suicide enacted in New York
  - 1870s – Samuel Williams begins to publicly advocate using morphine and other drugs for euthanasia
  - 1885 - American Medical Association opposes euthanasia
- 1900-1949
  - 1905-1906 - Bills to legalize euthanasia are defeated in Ohio
  - 1915 - Dr. Haiselden allows deformed baby boy to die rather than give him possibly lifesaving surgery
  - 1917 - The Black Stork film causes controversy over infant euthanasia
  - 1930s - Public support for euthanasia increases as U.S. endures Great Depression
  - 1935 - Voluntary Euthanasia Legislation Society founded
  - 1936 - Bill to legalize euthanasia defeated in British House of Lords
  - 1937 - Voluntary Euthanasia Act introduced in U.S. Senate
  - 1938 - National Society for the Legalization of Euthanasia founded
  - 1940s - Nazi use of involuntary euthanasia changes public perception of euthanasia in the U.S.
  - 1946 - Committee of 1776 Physicians for Legalizing Voluntary Euthanasia founded
- 1950-1979
  - 1950 - World Medical Association condemns euthanasia; poll shows declining support for physician-assisted suicide
  - 1952 - Groups petition the United Nations to amend the Declaration of Human Rights to include euthanasia
  - 1962 - Pauline Taylor becomes president of the Euthanasia Society of America
  - 1965 - Donald McKinney becomes president of the Euthanasia Society of America
  - 1967 - First living will written
  - 1968 - Harvard Medical School Committee defines irreversible coma as a criterion for death
  - 1969 - Hastings Center founded
  - 1970s - Idea of patients’ rights gains acceptance
  - 1972 - U.S. Senate holds first national hearings on euthanasia
  - 1973 - American Hospital Association (AHA) adopts patient’s bill of rights
  - 1974 - Society for the Right to Die founded
  - 1974 - First U.S. hospice opens
  - March 31, 1976 - Supreme Court rules in Quinlan case that respirator can be removed from coma patient
  - October 1, 1976 - Nation’s first aid in dying statute signed into law in California
  - 1977 - Eight states have right to die bills
- 1980-1999
  - 1980 - World Federation of Right to Die Societies forms
  - 1980 - Hemlock Society forms
  - May 5, 1980 - Pope John Paul II issues declaration opposing mercy killing
  - December 1984 - American Medical Association supports withholding or withdrawing life-prolonging medical treatment in certain circumstances
  - 1987 - California State Bar becomes first major public body to support physician aid in dying
  - 1988 - Unitarian Universalist Association passes resolution in support of aid in dying
  - January 8, 1988 - Journal of the American Medical Association publishes article by hospital resident who euthanized a patient
  - 1990s - Public opinion surveys show more than half of Americans support physician-assisted death
  - June 4, 1990 - Jack Kevorkian (“Dr. Death”) participates in his first assisted suicide
  - June 25, 1990 - Supreme Court upholds the right to refuse life saving medical service
  - November 5, 1990 - U.S. Congress passes Patient Self-Determination Act
  - 1991 - Choice in Dying formed
  - November 1991 - Washington voters defeat physician-aid-in-dying initiative
  - November 3, 1992 - California Death with Dignity Act is defeated
  - April 1993 - Compassion in Dying formed
  - May 1994 - New York Task Force publishes report against physician-assisted suicide
  - November 1994 - Oregon Death with Dignity Act passed
  - April 30, 1997 - Clinton prohibits using federal funds for assisted suicide
  - June 26, 1997 - U.S. Supreme Court rules there is no right to die
  - November 1997 - Oregon voters keep Death with Dignity Act
  - November 1998 - Jack Kevorkian assists a suicide on national television
  - November 1998 - Michigan defeats physician-assisted suicide proposal
  - 1999 - Jack Kevorkian convicted of murder
- 2000-2009
  - 2000 - Maine Death with Dignity Act is defeated
  - 2001 - Netherlands legalizes euthanasia
  - 2003 - Attorney General Aschroft Challenges the Oregon Death with Dignity ActAttorney General Aschroft challenges the Oregon Death with Dignity Act
  - 2005 - Terri Schiavo has her feeding tube removed after long court battle
  - January 17, 2006 - U.S. Supreme Court upholds Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act in Gonzales v. Oregon
  - June 1, 2007 - Jack Kevorkian released on parole
  - February 19, 2008 - Luxembourg legalizes physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia
  - November 4, 2008 - Washington State Death with Dignity Act is passed
  - December 5, 2008 - Montana legalizes physician-assisted suicide
  - December 31, 2009 - State of Montana affirms physician-assisted suicide is not against public policy
- 2010-2019
  - June 3, 2011 - Jack Kevorkian dead at 83
  - November 6, 2012 - Massachusetts Death with Dignity ballot measure defeated
  - May 20, 2013 - Vermont becomes fourth state to allow physician-assisted suicide
  - January 13, 2014 - Physician-assisted suicide ruled legal by New Mexico judge
  - March 2, 2014 - Belgium legalizes euthanasia for terminally and incurably ill children
  - February 6, 2015 - Canada’s high court strikes down physician-assisted suicide ban
  - April 30, 2015 - South African court allows assisted suicide for terminally ill man
  - August 11, 2015 - New Mexico Court ruling allowing physician-assisted suicide struck down by higher court
  - October 5, 2015 - California becomes fifth state to legalize physician-assisted suicide
  - June 7, 2016 - Physician-assisted suicide becomes legal in Canada
  - September 17, 2016 - First Belgian minor granted euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide
  - November 8, 2016 - Colorado legalizes physician-assisted suicide
  - February 18, 2017 - D.C. becomes seventh U.S. jurisdiction to legalize physician-assisted suicide
  - November 29, 2017 - Victoria becomes first Australian state to legalize physician-assisted suicide and limited euthanasia
  - December 2, 2017 - Nine state medical associations drop opposition to physician-assisted suicide
  - April 5, 2018 - Hawaii legalizes physician-assisted suicide
  - Apr 12, 2019 - New Jersey legalizes physician-assisted suicide
  - June 12, 2019 - Maine legalizes physician-assisted suicide
  - July 24, 2019 - Oregon removes waiting period for patients with fewer than 15 days to live
- 2020-Present
  - February 26, 2020 - Germany overturns ban on organized assisted suicide
  - October 16, 2020 - Netherlands to allow physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill children under 12
  - October 17, 2020 - New Zealand votes to legalize physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill adults
  - January 7, 2021 - First people with non-terminal illnesses undergo euthanasia in Colombia
  - March 17, 2021 - Canada expands MAID eligibility
  - March 29, 2022 - Oregon ends residency requirement for physician-assisted suicide
  - February - March 2023 - Canada sets date for mental illness eligibility
  - May 2, 2023 - Vermont ends residency requirement for MAID
  - February 29, 2024 - Canada again delays MAID expansion
  - April 21, 2024 - Peruvian psychologist who was granted exception for euthanasia dies
  - September 23, 2024 - Reported use of Sarco capsule ignites controversy in Switzerland
  - November 16, 2024 - Pat Koch Thaler, sister of former New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch, dies by MAID
  - November 30, 2024 - Members of Parliament vote in favor of legalizing MAID in England and Wales
  - January 2, 2025 - Hemlock Society founder Derek Humphrey dies at 94
  - November 17, 2025 - Alice and Ellen Kessler die by MAID
  - November 29, 2025 - Dignitas Founder Ludwig Minelli dies at 92
  - December 12, 2025 - Illinois legalizes MAID
  - December 30, 2025 - Canadaian Kiano Vafaeian died via MAID, sparking controversy
  - February 4, 2026 - Gavin Newsom reveals his mother chose MAID
  - February 6, 2026 - New York legalizes MAID
Assessment quiz
1-minute survey
Discussion questions
Sources

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

An elderly couple

The right to die

MAID: Medical aid in dying: References & Edit History

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

The Editors of ProCon
ProCon's editors write and verify new content and update existing content. ProCon presents the pro and con arguments to debatable issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, freely accessible way.

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type	Description	Contributor	Date
	Discussion questions standardized.	The Editors of ProCon	Jul 23, 2026
	Image restored.	The Editors of ProCon	Jul 06, 2026
	Subhead adjusted.	The Editors of ProCon	Feb 18, 2026
	Quiz and general updates added.	The Editors of ProCon	Feb 18, 2026
	Photo added.	The Editors of ProCon	Feb 10, 2026
	Updated laws.	The Editors of ProCon	Feb 09, 2026
	Updates to add MAID legalization in Illinois.	The Editors of ProCon	Dec 16, 2025
	Update to UK law	The Editors of ProCon	Jul 08, 2025
	Text adjusted.	The Editors of ProCon	Jun 23, 2025
	Links added.	The Editors of ProCon	Jun 23, 2025
	Link and footnote updated.	The Editors of ProCon	Jun 20, 2025
	Timeline expanded.	The Editors of ProCon	Jun 19, 2025
	Links added.	The Editors of ProCon	Jun 19, 2025
	Links added.	The Editors of ProCon	Jun 19, 2025
	Additional information added to Delaware law.	The Editors of ProCon	May 29, 2025
	Correction to Delaware section.	The Editors of ProCon	May 29, 2025
	Delaware legalization added.	The Editors of ProCon	May 27, 2025
	Invalidated site: Santa Clara University - Scholar Commons - Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD): Ethical Considerations for Psychologists (PDF).	Emily Rodriguez	May 22, 2025
	Survey added.	The Editors of ProCon	May 06, 2025
	Updates to to timeline.	The Editors of ProCon	Mar 25, 2025
	Add new Web site: Santa Clara University - Scholar Commons - Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD): Ethical Considerations for Psychologists (PDF).	Grace Young	Mar 21, 2025
	Add new Web site: National Library For Biotechnology Medicine - PubMed Central - Medical Aid in Dying: Ethical and Practical Issues.	Yamini Chauhan	Jan 16, 2025
	Text updated and video added.	The Editors of ProCon	Dec 04, 2024
	New article added.	The Editors of ProCon	Nov 08, 2024