Editing Assisted suicide (section)

==Terminology==

This practice is referred to using a wide range of terminologies. These include:

* medical aid in dying (MAID)
* medical assistance in dying (MAiD)
* assisted dying
* physician-assisted death (PAD)
* physician-assisted suicide (PAS)
* assisted suicide

However, all of these terminologies refer to the same medical practice, in which a physician indirectly assists another person to end their own life. It involves a physician "knowingly and intentionally providing a person with the knowledge or means or both required to commit suicide, including counseling about lethal doses of drugs, prescribing such lethal doses or supplying the drugs". This is a regulated practice in which the patient must meet very strict criteria in order to receive medical assistance in dying.<ref>{{cite web |year=2007 |title=Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide (update 2007) |url=http://policybase.cma.ca/dbtw-wpd/Policypdf/PD07-01.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111219230512/http://policybase.cma.ca/dbtw-wpd/Policypdf/PD07-01.pdf |archive-date=19 December 2011 |publisher=Canadian Medical Association}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://committees.parliament.uk/work/6906/assisted-dyingassisted-suicide/|title=Assisted dying/assisted suicide - Committees - UK Parliament|website=committees.parliament.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=8 February 2019 |title=What do assisted dying, assisted suicide and euthanasia mean and what is the law? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47158287 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

===Related terms===
[[Euthanasia]] occurs when somebody directly brings about the death of another. It can occur with or without [[Consent (criminal law)|consent]], and can be classified as [[Voluntary euthanasia|voluntary]] (the person consents), [[Non-voluntary euthanasia|non-voluntary]] (the person is unable to provide consent) or [[Involuntary euthanasia|involuntary]] (the person does not give consent).

===Concerns about use of the term "assisted suicide"===
Some advocates for assisted dying strongly oppose the terms "assisted suicide" and "suicide", and prefer terms such as "medical aid in dying" or "assisted dying". The motivation for this is to distance the debate from suicides commonly performed by those not [[Terminal illness|terminally ill]], as they believe that the use of "suicide" is not an accurate representation of the medical practice.<ref>{{cite web |title=Assisted Dying not Assisted Suicide |url=https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/blog-post/assisted-dying-not-assisted-suicide/ |website=Dignity in Dying |date=10 April 2013 |access-date=21 December 2018 |archive-date=6 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406021722/https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/blog-post/assisted-dying-not-assisted-suicide/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Why medically assisted dying is not suicide |url=https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/assisted_dying_is_not_suicide |website=Dying with Dignity Canada |access-date=21 December 2018 |archive-date=6 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406021722/https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/assisted_dying_is_not_suicide |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://apm.amegroups.com/article/view/50986/html|title=Assisted dying around the world: a status quaestionis|journal=Annals of Palliative Medicine|volume=10|number=3|date=March 2021|access-date=25 December 2021|archive-date=25 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225124317/https://apm.amegroups.com/article/view/50986/html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339055628|title=Las justificaciones de la muerte asistida|journal=Recerca Revista de pensament i anàlisi|number=2|date=2020|volume=25 }}</ref>

In November 2022 at its biannual Annual General Meeting, the [[World Federation of Right to Die Societies]] discussed and adopted the phrase "voluntary assisted dying" as the preferred terminology for this medical practice.{{cn|date=May 2025}}