Understanding Euthanasia and Doctor-Assisted Suicide This article will address some of the most popular points of interest involved in the discussion of euthanasia-assisted suicide. There are less than a dozen questions that would come to mind for the average individual who has a mild interest in this debate, and the following essay presents information that would satisfy that individual's curiosity about these points of common interest. Euthanasia and assisted suicide is legal in the state of Oregon and the Netherlands; these are the only two jurisdictions in the world where the laws specifically allow euthanasia or assisted suicide. Oregon allows assisted suicide. (Oregon) The Netherlands allows both euthanasia and assisted suicide. (Review) In 1995 the Northern Territory of Australia passed a euthanasia bill. (Rights) It came into force in 1996 but was overturned by the Australian Parliament in 1997. Furthermore, in 1997, the Supreme Court of Colombia ruled that penalties for mercy killing should be abolished. (Republic). However, the ruling will not come into force until the guidelines, yet to be developed, are approved by the Colombian Congress. The difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide is seen this way: One way to distinguish them is to look at the last act: the act without which death would not occur. Using this distinction, if a third party performs the final act that intentionally causes the patient's death, euthanasia has occurred. For example, giving a lethal injection to a patient or placing a plastic bag over his head to suffocate him would be considered euthanasia. However, if the person who dies carries out the final act, assisted suicide has occurred. So it would be assisted suicide... middle of the paper... 1Medscape. Available at http://www.medscape.com/Medscape/psychiatry/clinicalMgmt/CM.v03/pnt-CM.v03.html, citing Jamison KR, Night Falls Fast, New York, NY: Alfred Knopf; 1999. Accessed 3/19/01. Oregon's "Death with Dignity Act" (ORS 127.800-897) passed November 1994 and took effect in 1997. Constitutional Court of the Republic of Colombia, ruling no. c-239/97, ref. Expedient no. D-1490, 20 May 1997. "Review of Termination of Life on Request and Assistance to Suicide" was approved in April 2001. "Terminal Illness Act Rights", Northern Territory of Australia (1996). Wanzer, Sidney HMD et al., “Physician Responsibility to Desperately Sick Patients: A Second Look,” 320 The New England Journal of Medicine (March 30, 1989), p. 848. Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, second edition (1976).