To access extended pro and con arguments, sources, and discussion questions about whether medical aid in dying (MAID) should be legal, go to ProCon.org.
Medical aid in dying (MAID) is also called medical assistance in dying, physician-assisted suicide (PAS), physician-assisted death/dying (PAD), and self-determination in dying. The New York State Bar Association defined MAID as “when a terminally ill, mentally competent adult patient, who is likely to die within six months, takes prescribed medicines, which must be self-administered, to end suffering and achieve a peaceful death.”
MAID differs from euthanasia, which is when a healthcare provider administers a fatal drug, and from passive euthanasia, which is when artificial life support is withheld or stopped (such as feeding tubes and ventilators). Euthanasia is illegal in the United States but legal in some countries, including Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Spain.
PRO
- MAID allows terminally ill people to choose a “good death.”
- MAID is a matter of bodily autonomy, a right everyone should have.
- MAID ensures thoughtful regulation of the practice.
CON
- MAID dangerously normalizes suicide.
- MAID endangers vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities, the elderly, and people of color.
- MAID is a slippery slope to legal euthanasia and worse.
This article was published on December 19, 2022, at Britannica’s ProCon.org, a nonpartisan issue-information source.