Editorial

This special issue is a contribution to stimulate discussion and debate in the community of scholars in the field of intellectual and developmental disability around the ethical issues of ending the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. It features a stimulus paper and then a series of invited commentaries. An initial, large monograph was shared with a group of scholars, scientists, and researchers in the global community who were invited to provide commentary. The monograph is available on the webpage of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disability's Ethics Special Interest Research Group. An abridged version of the monograph is published as the first article in this special issue. In keeping with the process followed by journals such as Lancet and journals of The Royal Society, this paper has not been peer‐reviewed in a blind process. The review is in the commentaries that follow. A range of opinions and perspectives indicate the complexity of this important topic and the critical value of debate and discussion.