The Supreme Court in America has ruled that states may prohibit physician-assisted suicide. This text assembles experts in the field of medical ethics to provide an account of the arguments for and against physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, and for the historical, empirical and legal perspectives on this complicated issue.;Questions are addressed here including: what does mercy dictate?; is it a justification for killing?; does physician-assisted suicide honour or violate autonomy?; is it more dignified than natural death?; is this decision purely a private matter?; and will legalizing physician-assisted suicide put us on a slippery slop toward involuntary euthanasia? The text analyzes data taken from Holland, in an attempt to learn from the only country in which physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia are legal.