Facts and Statistics on Euthanasia

• Euthanasia is the intentional ending of a patient's life by a physician, usually by lethal injection.
• Physician-assisted suicide refers to the ending of life through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose.
• Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia are legal and widely practiced in Colombia and the Netherlands. {1}
• In 1984, the Dutch Supreme Court declared euthanasia to be legal. {2} In 1990, 9% of all deaths in the Netherlands were a result of physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, with euthanasia accounting for the vast majority of those. {3}
• In 1996, a euthanasia bill went into effect in Australia's Northern Territory but it was overturned by the Australian Parliament in 1997. {4}
• In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the related cases of Washington v. Glucksberg and Vacco v. Quill that there is no federal constitutional right to assisted suicide. {5}
• In the United States, physician-assisted suicide in legal only in Oregon. The Oregon Death With Dignity Act was passed in November 1994 by a margin of 51% to 49%. After multiple legal proceedings prevented its enactment, the Act became law on October 27, 1997. In November 1997, 60% of voters voted against Measure 25, which would have repealed the Act. The Death With Dignity Act legalizes physician-assisted suicide but prohibits euthanasia. {6}
• The states of California, Washington, Michigan and Maine have rejected ballot referenda questions to legalize physician-assisted suicide. The Supreme Court of Alaska in Alaska v. Sampson declared there is no state constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide, as did the Florida State Supreme Court in McIver v. Kirscher. The Hawaii State Senate voted down a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide. {7}
• In 1999, Dr. Jack Kevorkian was sentenced to a 10-25 year prison term for giving a lethal injection to Thomas Youk.
• In 2002, Belgium legalized euthanasia. {8}

References

1. "suicide." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
2. BBC News: "Euthanasia and the Law." November 28 2000.
3. Nightingale Alliance Fast Facts, citing J. Remmelink et al., "Medical Decisions About the End of Life": Report of the Committee to Study the Medical Practice Concerning Euthanasia, SDU Publishing House, The Hague, 1991.
4. "History of Euthanasia," euthanasia.com
5. 521 U.S. 702 (1997) and 521 U.S. 793 (1997), respectively, according to Nightingale Alliance.
6. Annual statistical reports and other information are provided on the Oregon Department of Human Resources website.
7. Nightingale Alliance Fast Facts, nightingalealliance.org.
8. "History of Euthanasia," Euthanasia.com.