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
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Discussion questions
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