Psychiatrie Bulletin (199\), 15, 1-3 Stances towards euthanasia TIMHELME,formerly Registrar in Forensic Psychiatry, Ashen Hill Unit, Hellingly

Active voluntary euthanasia may be defined as thedeliberate taking of a patient's life, or the facilitation of his or her suicide, with the informed consent and at the express request of the patient. It may therefore be distinguished from passive euthanasia, when no posi tive step is taken to hasten death but when potentially life-saving measures are intentionally withheld, and also from non-voluntary euthanasia, when the patient is unable to participate in the decision, or is incapable of providing an adequately informed consent. A change in the law on active euthanasia within the foreseeable future appears inevitable. In this country, national opinion polls have established that the proportion of the population agreeing with the statement that "the law should allow adults to receive medical help to an immediate peaceful death if they suffer from an incurable physical illness that is intolerable to them, provided that they havepreviously requested such help in writing " has progressively increased as follows