The Ethical Positions of Physician-Assisted Suicide/Withholding or Withdrawing Life-Sustaining Treatment in Patients with a Terminal Illness

Many people see healthcare as something to save a life or aid in helping the ill feel better, but they don’t see it as also something to help end a life. Often, we don’t think about physician-assisted suicide (PAS) or withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment (WWLST) as an option when it comes to taking care of our health. PAS or also known as Death with Dignity is “when a physician facilitates a patient’s death by providing the necessary means or information to enable the patient to perform the life-ending act.” This presentation will evaluate the justifications for PAS and WWLST, such as whether patients benefit from an intervention to cause death, whether there is or there is not an ethically significant distinction between PAS and WWLST, and whether it is “morally acceptable or unacceptable to intentionally cause death.