How should palliative care respond to increasing legislation for assisted dying?

How should palliative care respond to increasing legislation for assisted dying?Assisted dying is a contentious issue.Debates about it continue predominantly in the popular press, public discourse and within governments across the world.Assisted dying is the umbrella term that incorporates euthanasia and some forms of physician assisted dying.Euthanasia is where a doctor administers a lethal injection whereas in physician assisted dying the physician may be required to assess the patient as competent, terminally ill and provide a prescription for a lethal concoction that the patient self-administers.There is a changing picture in relation to legislation but broadly speaking euthanasia and physician assisted dying are legal in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg and most of Canada (except Quebec where they only legalised euthanasia).In various US states and Victoria in Australia some form of physician assisted death is legal.In Switzerland, legislation from the 1940's permits someone to assist in a death if they do not profit from it.When doctors assist, they are acting in this way almost as a civil act.Rates of euthanasia are increasing where it is legal, whereas rates of physician assisted dying tend to remain lower especially in countries where euthanasia is also legal (1,2).