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.
Spain: Rape victim disabled after suicide attempt ends life by euthanasia
A Spanish woman who became paraplegic following a failed suicide attempt ended her life by euthanasia last night after a legal challenge to prevent her death failed. According to legal rulings, the 25-year-old woman, Noelia Castillo Ramos, had a psychiatric illness...
Wrap-up: Scotland rejects assisted suicide after historic debate
The Scottish assisted suicide Bill was defeated on Tuesday 17 March in a major victory for opponents of the Bill by 69 votes to 57. This defeat has likely settled the issue in Scotland for a generation after a two-year national debate, and will likely contribute to...
Belgium: Record 4% of all deaths were assisted deaths in 2025
Belgium had a record 4,486 assisted deaths in 2025, an increase of 12.4% on the previous year, accounting for 4% of all deaths in the country, with almost a quarter of all deaths not expected in the short-term. According to the annual review released by Belgium's...
Scottish assisted suicide Bill defeated in major victory for the most vulnerable in our society
Liam McArthur's assisted suicide Bill has been defeated in a major victory for opponents of the Bill by 69 votes to 57, settling the issue in Scotland for a generation after a two-year national debate, and likely striking a mortal blow to the assisted suicide Bill in...
Wrap up: House of Lords assisted suicide Committee Stage – Day 12
Peers subjected the assisted suicide Bill to its twelfth day of Committee Stage scrutiny on Friday 20 March. Campaigners questioned the Government's neutrality on the assisted suicide Bill, after it created seven additional sitting Fridays for the Bill in the House of...
Poll: 7 in 10 Scots say improve access to care for people with disabilities before assisted suicide
Almost seven in ten Scots believe that access to care should be improved for people with disabilities before any assisted suicide Bill should become law, new polling has revealed. The poll, commissioned by disability advocacy group Not Dead Yet UK, revealed that 69%...