For literally hundreds of thousands of years, human beings recognized death as inevitable feature of the human condition—to be avoided when possible, but ultimately accepted as necessity. Indeed, one of the distinctive features of moral reflection involved considerations of how properly to approach death. The idea that one had a right to die rather than a necessity to accept death with grace would have been inconceivable. In the last half of the twentieth century, however, advances in scientific medicine and technology fundamentally altered the traditional framework of reflection on death. As it becomes increasingly possible to prolong death and to extend the life span, it becomes necessary not simply to accept death but to consider a possible right and in some cases even responsibility to die.

The claim that the individual has a right to die presupposes not only advances in science and...