This Town Hall discussion features an important clarifying conversation on key definitions and affiliate terms relating to Voluntary Assisted Dying (“VAD”). Our esteemed speakers presented an important clarifying overview of international perspectives and misnomers that persist regarding VAD, and will examine the term “euthanasia,” which carries a historically negative connotation but is legal in Colombia. And yet, the term “euthanasia” derives from the Greek, “eu” + “thanatos” to mean a good death. Indeed, while often mistaken to be the same as euthanasia, Medical Aid-in-Dying (MAiD) holds a more neutral connotation, yet remains greatly debated and often misunderstood. Within the United States, MAiD requires the patient to self-administer the medication; by contrast, in Canada, MAiD allows for the physician to administer the medication. Both countries’ terms refer exclusively to an eligible person choosing a voluntary assisted death, but by different means. Importantly, this distinction pertains to a central tenet: a chosen death must always be voluntary, and entirely motivated by an individual seeking the time and circumstances of their death once they have reached the point where they view their life as complete.

Meet our Speakers:

Jane Lowers, PhD, MPA –
Jane Lowers is an assistant professor in the Division of Palliative Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta. She holds a Bachelor’s in Journalism from Northwestern University, a masters in public administration from Baruch College in New York, and a PhD in palliative care from Lancaster University in England. Her work focuses on the differences between the care people want at end of life and the care they receive, and the factors that shape their choices. This has included a study on caregivers of people who chose to voluntarily stop eating and drinking to hasten death (or VSED), current research on people aging without close family, and work with the Hastings Center on a project titled, “Dementia and the Ethics of Choosing When to Die.”

Lucas Correa Montoya, JD –
Lucas Correa Montoya is a lawyer, consultant, public servant, academic, and human rights activist. He is also the director and strategic litigation leader of DescLAB, an innovative and visionary firm that is committed to putting rights into action, creating strategies, mobilizing ideas and providing services to generate profound changes in our society. In his professional career, he has served as an advocacy leader for the Saldarriaga Concha Foundation, a Colombian organization that works for the social inclusion of older people and people with disabilities. He was recently a consultant to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on issues of disability, legal capacity and regulatory design. He served as Technical Deputy Director of Old Age and Aging of the Secretariat of Social Integration of the city of Bogotá (Colombia).

(Originally Recorded on March 23rd, 2023)