Legality of euthanasia occurred in September 2016. In September 2014, the Federal Euthanasia Commission gave convicted rapist and murderer Frank Van Den Bleeken the right to assisted suicide. Van Den Bleeken had served decades in prison for a 1989 crime and no longer wished to live. Over a dozen other inmates filed similar petitions. In January 2015, the Justice Ministry acknowledged that Van Den Bleeken's doctors recommended against euthanasia and that alternative psychological care would be sought for him. Voluntary active euthanasia, called "physician assisted dying", is legal in Canada for all people over the age of 18 who have a terminal illness
Euthanasia in the United States Euthanasia in the United States Euthanasia is illegal in most of the United States. Assisted suicide/assisted death is legal in Washington DC and the states of California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, Hawaii, and Washington; its status is disputed in Montana. The key difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide is that in cases of assisted suicide, the individual receives assistance, but ultimately voluntarily causes their own death. In euthanasia the individual does not directly end their life, but another person acts to cause the individual's death. Debates about the ethics of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide date from ancient Greece and Rome. After