{"id":4624,"date":"2025-01-31T15:38:41","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T14:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/?p=4624"},"modified":"2025-02-04T01:08:11","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T00:08:11","slug":"assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2025\/01\/31\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Assisted dying\u2019 is assisted suicide and\/or euthanasia"},"content":{"rendered":"

By David Albert Jones<\/p>\n

\u2018When I use a word,\u2019 Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, \u2018it means just what I choose it to mean \u2014 neither more nor less<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018The question is,\u2019 said Alice, \u2018whether you can make words mean so many different things.\u2019<\/p>\n

My article<\/a> in the Journal of Medical Ethics<\/em> is about the words \u2018assisted dying\u2019. I argue that the term is problematic not principally because it is euphemistic, which is true of many terms for controversial practices. The a key problem is that \u2018assisted dying\u2019 is ambiguous and hence the words are used inconsistently.<\/p>\n

\u2018Assisted dying\u2019 is best understood as an umbrella term<\/a> for a doctor ending the life of a patient at the patient\u2019s request (voluntary euthanasia) or a patient ending their own life with means provided by a doctor (physician-assisted suicide), for patients who may or may not be terminally ill.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the term is also used, especially in the United Kingdom, with certain further stipulations, for example, only for physician-assisted suicide of adults with a terminal illness.<\/p>\n

A good example of the confusion that follows is a BBC website article where it is stated that \u2018assisted dying generally refers to a person who is terminally ill receiving lethal drugs from a medical practitioner, which they administer themselves<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n

But later, in the same article, it is stated that \u2018more than 200 million people around the world have legal access to assisted dying<\/a>\u2019. A link is provided to a map created by the British Medical Association, showing, \u2018Physician-assisted dying legislation around the world\u2019<\/a> (which is generally accurate except it mistakes France for Spain).<\/p>\n

In most of the countries in this map, however, \u2018physician-assisted dying\u2019 is not limited to assisted suicide of someone with a terminal illness. Some countries also include euthanasia<\/em> for those with terminal illness (as in Australia and New Zealand) or assisted suicide for those without<\/em> terminal illness (as in Switzerland and Austria) or both assisted suicide and euthanasia for people without terminal illness (as in Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands).<\/p>\n

In fact, only one country in the world, the United States, confines \u2018assisted dying\u2019 to assisted suicide for someone with a terminal illness, and this only in the 10 states (plus DC) where it is legal.<\/p>\n

Contrast \u2018medical aid in dying<\/a>\u2019 which was legalised in California in 2015, with \u2018medical assistance in dying<\/a>\u2019 which was legalised in Canada in 2016. The first denotes assisted suicide by a patient who is expected to die within six months. The second, overwhelmingly, denotes euthanasia of someone whose death is \u2018reasonably foreseeable\u2019, without any specific timeframe. In 2021 the Canadian law was expanded<\/a> to cover people whose death is not \u2018reasonably foreseeable\u2019, but already the law was very loose. The rate of assisted death in Canada is around ten times that in California<\/a>. However, the great differences of practice in these two countries are obscured by the use of similar terminology.<\/p>\n

In Australia, the law has expanded as successive states have legalised \u2018voluntary assisted dying\u2019. In 2017, Victoria<\/a> permitted euthanasia only if someone was not physically capable of assisted suicide, and restricted eligibility to expectation of death within 6 months, except for people with neurodegenerative diseases. In 2021, Queensland<\/a> allowed doctors to offer euthanasia at their discretion and set the time limit at 12 months. In 2024, the Australia Capital Territory<\/a> gave patients a free choice of euthanasia or assisted suicide and gave no timeframe for expectation of death. The law in Australia has changed rapidly, coming to resemble that of Canada, but has kept the same language of \u2018voluntary assisted dying\u2019.<\/p>\n

It may be that the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill,<\/a> currently in Committee Stage in the UK House of Commons is, at this stage, closer to Oregon than to Canada. However, the example of Oregon is not so reassuring<\/a> as sometimes thought and the example of Australia shows how the language of \u2018assisted dying\u2019 can easily expand further to apply to a wider range of cases. Claiming that \u2018assisted dying\u2019 is only, or primarily, or generally, restricted to assisted suicide for terminal illness does not reflect the ordinary use of the term. What is more, such linguistic stipulations will not prevent the practice expanding over time under cover of this ambiguous term.<\/p>\n

In my paper<\/a> I show that, while the term \u2018assisted dying\u2019 is increasingly prevalent, \u2018assisted suicide\u2019 remains the more common term in the scholarly literature. It has the great virtue of clearly distinguishing this practice from euthanasia, with its higher rates of death and more serious abuses. The example of Australia shows how, once permitted, a shift can occur in \u2018assisted dying\u2019 from euthanasia being allowed only in exceptional circumstances to it becoming the norm. It is surely better to acknowledge that the practice being proposed is \u2018assisted suicide\u2019 than to obscure this with ambiguous language and, by doing so, perhaps open the door to euthanasia.<\/p>\n

Paper title: How (not) to define \u2018assisted dying<\/a>\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Author: David Albert Jones<\/strong><\/p>\n

Affiliations: Anscombe Bioethics Centre<\/strong><\/p>\n

Competing interests: None declared<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By David Albert Jones \u2018When I use a word,\u2019 Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, \u2018it means just what I choose it to mean \u2014 neither more nor less.\u2019 \u2018The question is,\u2019 said Alice, \u2018whether you can make words mean so many different things.\u2019 My article in the Journal of Medical Ethics is […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":503,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8127,8060,563],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-assisted-dying","category-euthanasia","category-language"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Assisted dying\u2019 is assisted suicide and\/or euthanasia - Journal of Medical Ethics blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2025\/01\/31\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Assisted dying\u2019 is assisted suicide and\/or euthanasia - Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By David Albert Jones \u2018When I use a word,\u2019 Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, \u2018it means just what I choose it to mean \u2014 neither more nor less.\u2019 \u2018The question is,\u2019 said Alice, \u2018whether you can make words mean so many different things.\u2019 My article in the Journal of Medical Ethics is [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2025\/01\/31\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-31T14:38:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-04T00:08:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"owenschaefer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"owenschaefer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/31\\\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/31\\\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"owenschaefer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aed22897c55740f89c1ad1508985d1c0\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Assisted dying\u2019 is assisted suicide and\\\/or euthanasia\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-31T14:38:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-04T00:08:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/31\\\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":836,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Assisted dying\",\"Euthanasia\",\"language\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/31\\\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/31\\\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/31\\\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u2018Assisted dying\u2019 is assisted suicide and\\\/or euthanasia - Journal of Medical Ethics blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-31T14:38:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-04T00:08:11+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/31\\\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/31\\\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/31\\\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018Assisted dying\u2019 is assisted suicide and\\\/or euthanasia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/\",\"name\":\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\",\"description\":\"A blog to discuss the ethics of medicine in its many guises and formats.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/jme-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/jme-logo.png\",\"width\":200,\"height\":50,\"caption\":\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aed22897c55740f89c1ad1508985d1c0\",\"name\":\"owenschaefer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/183d62de3bcdcd8209a94ae1808c3a024d7b74e755a1c85df27517382b2b5b62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/183d62de3bcdcd8209a94ae1808c3a024d7b74e755a1c85df27517382b2b5b62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/183d62de3bcdcd8209a94ae1808c3a024d7b74e755a1c85df27517382b2b5b62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"owenschaefer\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/author\\\/owenschaefer\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Assisted dying\u2019 is assisted suicide and\/or euthanasia - Journal of Medical Ethics blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2025\/01\/31\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Assisted dying\u2019 is assisted suicide and\/or euthanasia - Journal of Medical Ethics blog","og_description":"By David Albert Jones \u2018When I use a word,\u2019 Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, \u2018it means just what I choose it to mean \u2014 neither more nor less.\u2019 \u2018The question is,\u2019 said Alice, \u2018whether you can make words mean so many different things.\u2019 My article in the Journal of Medical Ethics is [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2025\/01\/31\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\/","og_site_name":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog","article_published_time":"2025-01-31T14:38:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-02-04T00:08:11+00:00","author":"owenschaefer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"owenschaefer","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2025\/01\/31\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2025\/01\/31\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\/"},"author":{"name":"owenschaefer","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/person\/aed22897c55740f89c1ad1508985d1c0"},"headline":"\u2018Assisted dying\u2019 is assisted suicide and\/or euthanasia","datePublished":"2025-01-31T14:38:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-04T00:08:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2025\/01\/31\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\/"},"wordCount":836,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Assisted dying","Euthanasia","language"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2025\/01\/31\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2025\/01\/31\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2025\/01\/31\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\/","name":"\u2018Assisted dying\u2019 is assisted suicide and\/or euthanasia - Journal of Medical Ethics blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-01-31T14:38:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-04T00:08:11+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2025\/01\/31\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2025\/01\/31\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2025\/01\/31\/assisted-dying-is-assisted-suicide-and-or-euthanasia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Assisted dying\u2019 is assisted suicide and\/or euthanasia"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/","name":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog","description":"A blog to discuss the ethics of medicine in its many guises and formats.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#organization","name":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/files\/2026\/04\/jme-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/files\/2026\/04\/jme-logo.png","width":200,"height":50,"caption":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/person\/aed22897c55740f89c1ad1508985d1c0","name":"owenschaefer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/183d62de3bcdcd8209a94ae1808c3a024d7b74e755a1c85df27517382b2b5b62?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/183d62de3bcdcd8209a94ae1808c3a024d7b74e755a1c85df27517382b2b5b62?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/183d62de3bcdcd8209a94ae1808c3a024d7b74e755a1c85df27517382b2b5b62?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"owenschaefer"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/author\/owenschaefer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/503"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4624\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}