M ILOU VERHOOF was a physically healthy teenager from the Netherlands when she asked to be allowed to die. For years she had struggled with borderline personality disorder, a mental illness that profoundly affected her ability to manage her emotions. In interviews with Dutch media, her mother revealed that she had previously attempted suicide and had exhausted various options for treatment. Last year, at the age of 17, Miss Verhoof’s request was granted: she died in her bedroom, surrounded by her family, in the presence of a doctor. Now at least a dozen countries allow some patients to self-administer lethal drugs (known as physician-assisted dying) or to receive them from a doctor (voluntary euthanasia).