Legality of euthanasia Legality of euthanasia Efforts to change government policies on euthanasia of humans in the 20th and 21st centuries have met limited success in Western countries. Human euthanasia policies have also been developed by a variety of NGOs, most notably medical associations and advocacy organizations. , active human euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia, Luxembourg, and Canada. Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and in the US states of Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Hawaii, Vermont, Montana, Washington DC, and California. A law legalising euthanasia in the Australian state of Victoria will come into effect in mid-2019. On
Memorandum Authorizing Involuntary Euthanasia killing the mentally disabled would infringe on the sovereignty of the Third Reich. In their trials of German war criminals and perpetrators of atrocities, the Americans were concerned above all to maintain U.S. sovereignty by not setting a precedent for one nation to interfere in the domestic affairs of another. Memorandum Authorizing Involuntary Euthanasia Adolf Hitler signed a memorandum authorizing involuntary euthanasia in October 1939 to serve as the legal basis for Aktion T4, the Nazi forced euthanasia program. Its purpose was to assure the doctors and nurses who took part in the euthanasia program would not be prosecuted for