American Medical Association maintains opposition to assisted suicide

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Great news: The American Medical Association (AMA) upheld their opposition to assisted suicide and euthanasia.

This is a huge win as AMA delegates voted down the attempt to change the code of ethics to support or become neutral on assisted suicide and they voted down the attempt to change terminology from assisted suicide to Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD). 

The take home message is that medical professionals, young physicians and medical students must be involved in the AMA.

On October 10, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) were the first group to report that the AMA would be debating their policies on assisted suicide and euthanasia at the AMA House of Delegates interim meeting in Maryland (November 10 - 14, 2023).

50 draft resolutions were proposed with two of the draft resolutions dealing with assisted suicide and euthanasia.

• Resolution 4 proposed to change the position of the AMA from opposition to supporting (Resolution Link).
• Resolution 5 was for the AMA to adopt a neutral stance. (Resolution Link).

Resolution 4 would have  removed the AMA statement on not performing euthanasia or participating in assisted suicide. Both resolutions proposed to change the terminology from Physician-Assisted Suicide to Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD). The term Medical Aid in Dying includes assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Thank you to the many medical professionals who responded to the alert and worked to defeat Resolutions 4 and 5.