The Nazi Analogy Muddles Our Thinking About Physician Aid-in-Dying in the US

Abstract

What has become known in bioethics as "the Nazi analogy" likens a change's potential to precipitate moral deterioration to Nazi atrocities of the mid-20th century. This analogy has been applied in physician aid-in-dying (PAD) deliberations by those fearful that a physician's role in enabling a patient's death is too similar to Nazi physicians' roles in systematic murders during the Holocaust. This article suggests the importance of carefully distinguishing between when the Nazi analogy is aptly applied and when its use is limited to urging great caution about abuse or inequity.