Assisted Suicide/Aid in Dying Reconsidered: “God’s Compassion Embraces All God’s Creations” (Psalms 145:9)

To see this, I will present the basic parameters of two of those laws from the two jurisdictions with the largest populations of Jews among the jurisdictions that have approved aid-in-dying legislation and have had at least several years of experience with it, namely, California and Canada.14 As will become clear, the level and type of safeguards against the kinds of abuses listed in the last sect. [...] (e) “Capacity to make medical decisions” means that, in the opinion of an individual’s attending physician, consulting physician, psychiatrist, or psychologist, pursuant to Section 4609 of the Probate Code, the individual has the ability to understand the nature and consequences of a health care decision, the ability to understand its significant benefits, risks, and alternatives, and the ability. [...] Indeed, with the exception of Switzerland, all of the American states and nations that have adopted aid-in-dying laws, listed at the beginning of this responsum, have reserved application of the law to their own citizens as one step in ensuring that all of the restrictions of the law are met and that therefore the use of the law is rare. [...] 4) Canada allows for “clinician-administered medical assistance in dying,” previously known as voluntary euthanasia, in which the physician administers the drugs, in addition to aid in dying, where the patient self- administers the drugs; California’s law is restricted to cases in which the patient administers the drugs provided by the physician to him/herself. [...] The law in California and Canada specifically permits medical personnel to opt out of providing aid in dying.39 From a Jewish perspective as well, I am arguing in this responsum that providing aid in dying is permitted (muttar) in the circumstances and under the conditions described in the remainder of this responsum and in its conclusion (p’sak halakhah), despite the many reasons rooted in the Je.