ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the issue involved with two highly controversial end-of-life topics: physician-assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia. It looks at definition that are critical to understanding the key issues linked to hastened death before exploring the topic itself, beginning with the one-man right-to-die crusade of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a former pathologist turned "death counselor". He challenged the legal system in the US and lost, but he also managed to make the issue of death with dignity part of everyday conversation. The chapter reviews a few key legal cases that paved the way for the legalization of physician-assisted suicide in the US, initially in Oregon, then in six other states plus the District of Columbia. It discusses the relaxation of physician-assisted death laws in several European countries. The chapter explores a few of the moral and ethical concerns. There are two other categories of euthanasia: nonvoluntary euthanasia and involuntary euthanasia.
