Assisted suicide usually involves a health practitioner prescribing a lethal dose for a person to administer themselves, usually by swallowing a combination of drugs.
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.
Assisted suicide is legal in a handful of jurisdictions globally including Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg and a small number of states in the US.
Right To Life UK campaigns against any attempt to legalise assisted suicide, and for the development of palliative care services and end of life care that remove any perceived need for assisted suicide.
Former NZ MP urges UK Parliament to reject flawed assisted suicide Bill
A former MP from New Zealand has spoken out against legalising assisted suicide in England and Wales based on his own country’s experience, saying that safeguards which were promised are “so rarely effective”. As Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life)...
New Zealand: 37% surge in euthanasia and assisted suicide deaths in one year
In New Zealand, cases of euthanasia and assisted suicide have increased by 37.21% for the year April 2024 to March 2025 compared with the same period the previous year, according to data released by the New Zealand Ministry of Health. There were a total of 472 cases...
Clinic tells family of mother’s assisted suicide via WhatsApp and says ashes in the post
An Irish family discovered via WhatsApp that their mother had secretly ended her life by assisted suicide in Switzerland and that her ashes would be posted to them, raising concerns that the same thing could happen in England and Wales if Kim Leadbeater’s assisted...
Concerns mount as Washington abandons important annual assisted suicide report
Concerns have been raised that vital data on the dangers of assisted suicide will be hidden following a decision by the Washington State Department of Health to discontinue its annual statistical report. Assisted suicide was legalised in Washington in November...
Man stops life-saving medication after being ‘abandoned’ by healthcare professionals, raising fears of impact of assisted suicide Bill
A man struggling with declining health who feels abandoned by healthcare professionals has stopped taking life-saving medication, prompting fresh concerns about the dangers of inadequate NHS healthcare pushing patients towards assisted suicide if Kim Leadbeater’s Bill...
Switzerland: Assisted suicides up 825% since 2003 – 60% are women
Assisted suicides have reached a record high in Switzerland, with a total of 1,729 residents of Switzerland ending their lives by this means in 2023, 59.92% of whom are women. According to data from the Federal Statistical Office in Switzerland, in 2023 there was an...