ABSTRACT
Those involved in the debate on euthanasia—politicians, legal experts, bioethicists, doctors, and researchers—often assume that that end-of-life decisions are made by individual doctors, regardless of the social context. This assumption stems from the fact that the discussion about euthanasia is so closely related to bioethical and legal issues. It is convenient to ascribe moral or legal responsibility for a decision (or rather for the outcome of a decision) to an individual. In the Netherlands, the euthanasia debate basically revolves around two questions: Under what circumstances is euthanasia ethically acceptable? How can it best be regulated?
