Abstract
This Note explores whether modern society can embrace the concept of euthanasia as "death without suffering" to the full extent of the term. Section II explores the distortion of the concept of euthanasia from an historical perspective. Section III provides insight into the practice of euthanasia in the Netherlands, the only country in the world which allows people to request and receive aid-in-dying, i.e., active euthanasia. Section IV reviews the American judicial and legislative response to the active euthanasia issue, and analyzes the Death With Dignity Act, a model law which would permit a terminally ill adult to request and receive active euthanasia and simultaneously protect the physician honoring such request from civil, administrative and criminal sanctions. Careful and intelligent consideration of the Dutch experience and the proposed Death With Dignity Act suggests that the United States should make active euthanasia a reality for terminally ill persons.
Recommended Citation
Note, Active Voluntary Euthanasia: The Ultimate Act of Care for the Dying, 37 Clev. St. L. Rev. 645 (1989)