Assisted suicide is the support and immediate aid of another person to cause their own death.
In the United Kingdom, the Suicide Act 1961 legalised the attempt to take one’s own life, but it kept illegal the assistance of another’s death, with a punishment of up to 14 years in prison. Since then, it has become legal in countries such as Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg, and has also been introduced in the U.S. states of Montana, Washington, and Oregon. When we look at these countries, we see that palliative care which is given in centres like this Hospice Cincinnati way, and which is a medical specialism designed to relieve pain in people’s final days. is undermined. We also find that vulnerable people can be pressured into assisted death, and that human life is devalued by medical culture and society more largely. If you believe a loved one was pressured into assisted suicide then you may be able to bring a wrongful death lawsuit to court. Contact a law firm, like Lamber-Goodnow (visit them here), if you want to begin court proceedings.
Right To Life UK campaigns against any attempt to legalise such practices, and for the development of palliative care services and end of life care that remove any perceived need for assisted suicide.
If a person is admitted to hospital and they want to receive to food and fluids, we uphold that right and can offer advice as to how an intervention might be made to attempt to prevent these from being withdrawn against patient wishes with the sole purpose of causing death.
Government rejects pressure from assisted suicide lobby to review law
The Government has announced it has no plans to review the law on assisted suicide or to issue a call for evidence. In response to a Parliamentary question, the Government announced that “any change to the law in this area must be for individual Parliamentarians to...
Assisted suicide travel fine despite second lockdown to save lives, says UK Health Secretary
The UK Health Secretary has said people are legally allowed to travel overseas for an assisted suicide during lockdown. Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell was fearful the national lockdown in England, which was brought in to save lives, “could deter” people from ending...
Fifty palliative care doctors speak out against introducing assisted suicide
Over fifty doctors working in palliative medicine and care for dying patients have signed a letter to The Times in opposition to any proposed changes in the assisted suicide law. In the face of continual attempts to legalise assisted suicide, fifty doctors have...
New Zealand to introduce extreme assisted suicide law
New Zealand has voted to introduce an extreme assisted suicide law in a binding public referendum. Preliminary results, announced by the country’s electoral commission today, show 65.2% of voters supported the End of Life Choice Act coming into force as a new law....
Tanni Grey-Thompson criticises Government for encouraging the ‘suicide of those with disabling conditions’
Former paralympian, Baroness Grey-Thompson, has criticised the Government for encouraging the assisted suicide of those with disabling conditions. This week, the House of Lords debated the impact of Covid-19 regulations on the ability of British citizens to seek...
Euthanasia legislation expands to cover terminally ill children under-12 in Netherlands
Doctors will be able to euthanise children between the ages of one and 12 in the Netherlands under the country’s ever-expanding assisted suicide regime. Deputy Prime Minister Hugo de Jonge, who also serves as the Health Minister, wrote to Dutch politicians this week...