Let me begin with a declaration of my intention to avoid all euphemism. The standard term for medically facilitated death is “euthanasia,” and that is the term I will be using. We should always be wary of efforts to render more palatable any given proposal for social change by means of innovative new terminology to describe it. The results of such efforts are exactly what we see in the designations “Medical Assistance in Dying” (Canada), “Termination of Life on Request” (the Netherlands), “Voluntary Assisted Dying” (Australia), and so on. “Euthanasia” is not, in its etymology, any more grim or backwards than these other options — it literally means “good death”! And if that is not good enough, if even “good death” sends us back to the euphemism treadmill for alternative formulations, the real source of unease must plainly reside not in our vocabulary but in our intentions.
The New Euthanasia and the New Liberalism
