Voluntary euthanasia

Voluntary euthanasia is the purposeful ending of another person's life at their request, in order to relieve them of suffering. Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been the focus of intense debate in the 21st century, surrounding the idea of a right to die. Some forms of voluntary euthanasia are legal in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, Spain and Uruguay.

Voluntary refusal of food and fluids (VRFF), also called voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED) or patient refusal of nutrition and hydration (PRNH), will similarly result in death. Some authors classify this voluntary action as a form of passive euthanasia, while others treat it separately because it is treated differently from legal point of view, and often perceived as a more ethical option. VRFF is sometimes suggested as a legal alternative to euthanasia in jurisdictions disallowing euthanasia.

Assisted suicide

Assisted suicide is a practice in which a person receives assistance in bringing about their death, typically people suffering from a severe physical illness, in which the final step in the process is actively performed by the person concerned. In physician-assisted suicide (also called physician aid-in-dying or PAD) a physician knowingly provides a competent but suffering patient, upon the patient's request, with the means by which the patient intends to end his or her own life. Assisted suicide is contrasted with "active euthanasia" when the difference between providing the means and actively administering lethal medicine is considered important. For example, Swiss law allows assisted suicide while all forms of active euthanasia (like lethal injection) remain prohibited.