9781422281338

In wealthier, more developed nations around the world, sui- cides are a significant cause of death. In the US, for example, the Centers for Disease Control report that, in 2013, there were 41,149 deaths due to suicide, which is 13 per 100,000 people.

Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death of people in the US, with more deaths due to suicide than murder. The situation is similar in the United Kingdom (UK), where the Office for National Statistics reported that 6,233 people took their own lives in 2013— 11.9 suicides per 100,000 people. Assisted Suicide Assisted suicide is when a person pro- vides the means for someone to commit suicide but leaves the final act to the person who dies. When a doctor assists, it is known as physician-assisted sui- cide. The person who actually performs the final action which causes death is what separates assisted suicide from euthanasia. If the person who dies per- forms the last act, such as the swallow- ing of a lethal drug prescribed by a doc-

“It’s like giving someone a

loaded gun. The patient pulls the trig- ger, not the doctor. If the doctor sets up the needle and syringe but lets the patient push the plunger, that’s assisted suicide. If the doctor pushes the plunger, it would be euthanasia.”

——Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a physician famous for assisting in suicides, explaining the difference

between euthanasia and assisted suicide.

tor, then it is classified as assisted suicide. But if a doctor injects a person directly with a lethal drug, then it is euthanasia. While suicide is no longer illegal in most nations, assisted suicide remains a serious crime in nearly all countries of the world.

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Euthanasia