In 1973, the American Medical Association made an official statement on the topic of euthanasia. The AMA said that the intentional end of a life, or “mercy killing”, is a direct contradiction to what the medical profession stands for, but they said that the end of extraordinary means to keep someone alive is permitted. Rachel says that the statements leads to a distinction between intentionally killing and letting die. While this distinction is a big one, Rachel says thats its an morally unimportant one. The distinction between killing or active euthanasia and letting die or passive euthanasia lies in the intentions. Active euthanasia is when you take steps to intentionally end a persons life. Passive euthanasia is when you take away extraordinary
