ABSTRACT
Drawing on an extended comparison between the legal systems in place in the Netherlands (since 1984) and Oregon (since 1997), this chapter argues for a two-tiered system. The first compartment concerns patients with a limited life expectancy. Doctors should be permitted to participate in the joint act of ending the life of such a patient, if they are satisfied that this is both in accordance with the will of that patient and in his best interests. The second compartment consists of people with a longer life expectancy. These patients have a claim of getting access to lethal drugs, if their decisions to end their lives are voluntary, well-considered and stable. In the second compartment, but not in the first, there should be a mandatory waiting time.
A regrettable trend that can be observed in all systems that presently permit doctors to take final responsibility for a quick and humane death of the patient is the erosion of legal requirements that are supposed to guarantee that the ending of the patient's life does not only conform with his will but also with his interests, as defined by his own basic values. As a result the distinction between the two compartments also wears down.
