In non-consequentialist ethical thought, there is a moral distinction between killing and letting die. Whereas killing involves intervention, letting die involves withholding care.^[1]

Also in medical ethics there is a moral distinction between euthanasia and letting die. Legally, patients often have a right to reject life-sustaining care, in areas that do not permit euthanasia.^[2]

See also

• Passive euthanasia
• Vacco v. Quill
• Right to die
• Do not resuscitate
• Trolley problem

References

Further reading

• Bennett Jonathan (1993), 'Negation and abstention: two theories of allowing' in B. Steinbock and A. Norcross (eds.), Killing and Letting Die, pp. 230-56, New York: Fordham University Press.