This is not an act of euthanasia: Legally correct but ethically problematic?

Abstract

In 2015, the Belgian Federal Commission for the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia referred a physician to the public prosecutor’s office because it concluded that the physician might have violated the legal conditions for euthanasia. It was the commission’s first referral since its establishment in 2002. However, in 2019, the Antwerp Court sitting in chambers decided not to pursue the physician in criminal court. News reports suggested that it had ruled that the physician did not perform euthanasia because the patient drank the lethal potion herself, thus classifying the act as physician-assisted suicide. However, the court did not make the reasons for its decision public.In this article, we consider the legal and ethical aspects of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Although we discern clear differences between these end-of-life decisions, we also note important similarities. Countries that legalise voluntary physician-assisted dying may choose to legislate one or both end-of-life decisions. Providing a legal basis for both options can prevent major legal problems, ensuring that those doctors who violate the law are not acquitted.