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.
Same-day assisted suicide in Canada, report reveals
People in Canada are having their lives ended by assisted dying on the same day that requests are made, adding to fears that wrongful deaths may be occurring. An official report by the Chief Coroner of Ontario’s Medical Assistance in Dying Death Review Committee...
Woman has organs harvested following assisted suicide in world first
A woman in Australia has become the first person in the world to have their organs harvested after ending their life by assisted suicide. Karen Duncan, from Victoria, Australia, ended her life by assisted suicide after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease...
Canadian man, 26, with seasonal depression, euthanised despite no terminal illness
A 26-year-old Canadian man who had seasonal depression has been euthanised by a notorious doctor who is personally responsible for ending the lives of over 400 of her patients. Kiano Vafaeian, who had partial vision loss and lived with Type 1 diabetes, faced...
131 Peers in the House of Lords have either spoken against the assisted suicide Bill or signed amendments to it
131 Peers have either spoken against the assisted suicide Bill in the House of Lords or signed amendments because of concerns with the Bill, highlighting the extent to which legislation is flawed. This number includes Peers appointed to the House of Lords...
Nearly one in three people in England die with an unmet need for palliative care, report finds
A leading end-of-life charity and provider of hospice care has published a worrying report highlighting that “nearly one in three people in England die with [an] unmet need for palliative care”. The report, published by Marie Curie, found that around 170,000 people...
Wrap up: House of Lords assisted suicide Committee Stage – Day 9
As Peers subjected the assisted suicide Bill to its ninth day of Committee Stage scrutiny on Friday 6 January, almost four in five speakers who took a position in a speech spoke against the Bill, while the Government cut the debate short to prevent debate around a...