Intellectual Disability, Euthanasia, and Assisted Suicide

This chapter elucidates areas of concern regarding euthanasia and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). It broadly asks, “does the expansion of euthanasia and assisted suicide (EAS) regimes threaten the rise of a quiet eugenics?” The chapter examines some of the moral and ethical rationales that may support this trajectory. It considers parallel actions such as selective termination and neonatal euthanasia as indicators of how people with IDD may fare with broad access to EAS. A key consideration is the question of consent and whether current practice is sufficient. Finally, the chapter considers what evidence we have regarding IDD and euthanasia before considering what may lie ahead.