At its annual meeting, the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD) overwhelmingly rejected an attempt to change AMA policy and in doing so re-affirmed its longstanding policy in opposition to assisted suicide. It also approved a Board of Trustees report which rejected attempts to change the longstanding and clear terminology “physician assisted suicide” in AMA policy.
Dating to 1994, the AMA Code of Medical Ethics states that “Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks.” At its 2019 annual meeting, the House of Delegates overwhelmingly voted to uphold the Code of Medical Ethics as written. The 2025 Board of Trustees report states that “the profession of medicine should not support the legalization or practice of physician assisted suicide or see it as part of a physician’s role.”
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A proposed change in terminology to “medical aid in dying” was rejected. The Board of Trustees noted that, “Descriptors such as Medical Aid in Dying (MAID), physician aid-in-dying, and death with dignity could apply to palliative care practices and compassionate care near the end of life that do not include intending the death of patients… this degree of ambiguity is unacceptable for providing ethical guidance.” The House of Delegates, comprised of representatives from state medical associations, national medical specialty societies, AMA sections, and other professional interest medical associations, is the principal legislative and policy-making body of the AMA.
“In 2016, the AMA initiated a three-year study of physician-assisted suicide which culminated in the AMA House of Delegates re-affirming the AMA Code of Medical Ethics in 2019,” stated Dr. Jeff White, Patients’ Rights Action Fund board member and a former AMA House of Delegates member. “Nothing has changed in the ensuing years to warrant a change in AMA policy and terminology. We are extremely pleased with the results of the AMA House of Delegates vote and its recognition that physicians are trained to heal and must not perform euthanasia or participate in assisted suicide.”
