Although more countries and U.S. states are legalizing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, the practices remain rare, according a new study publishing in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia analyzed a variety of resources to assess the legal status of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide across the globe.
The practices are considered at least partially legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada and Colombia. Within the U.S., physician-assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont and California, according to Reuters.
While definitions of the practices vary by location, euthanasia generally refers to a physician taking actions to end a patient's life. Physician-assisted suicide refers to situations where patients take pills prescribed by a physician to end their own lives.
Here are four things to know about the study's findings:
- While cancer patients use legalized euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide the most — representing two-thirds of all cases — researchers found no evidence of widespread abuse for these practices.
- U.S. support for physician-assisted suicide has increased from 37 percent in 1947 to about 66 percent in 1990, where it has leveled off in 2016.
- In countries that legalized the practices, 0.3 to 4.6 percent of deaths are from physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.
- The largest motivating factors for these practices are loss of autonomy and inability to enjoy life due to pain .[AC31] The majority of people requesting either practice are elderly, white and well-educated.
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