I submit that Americans are fooling themselves in thinking that the courts and legislatures will be able to restrain and regulate this practice. As a native of The Netherlands I have learned that the law will be unable to provide effective guidance in this case.
Much information provided by the media about the situation in The Netherlands is incorrect.
For example, few know that PAS and euthanasia continue to be illegal in The Netherlands, physicians are being prosecuted, have been found guilty and were sentenced. Granted, relatively few are prosecuted and no physician has been sent to jail. More importantly, a recent government survey revealed that more than half of the cases of euthanasia are never reported to the legal authorities. But at least, there is the ever present possibility of prosecution which has led some to believe that euthanasia-minded physicians will be cautious. More important deterrents are the physician's perceptions of the presence of alternatives, doubt about the authenticity of the patient's wishes, and the belief that the patient's suffering is bearable.