ABSTRACT
Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) killing a patient voluntary active euthanasia (VAE) and allowing a patient to die voluntary passive euthanasia (VPE) are quite distinct from one another conceptually and morally. Two tasks are necessary in order to determine whether physician assisted suicide should be legalized. The first is to clarify the meaning of the phrase (PAS) so that one can be precise about what procedures are correctly specified by that phrase. The second task is to inquire into the moral acceptability of doctors' carrying out those procedures that are appropriately labelled as PAS. Everyone agrees that the doctor who carries out such an action has engaged in PAS. Many doctors do not want to regard themselves as killing their patients, even justifiably killing them. Further, most doctors do not want to kill their patients, even if such actions were morally and legally justified, so clearly their intentions are simply to honor their patients' rational refusals.
