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.
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%...
Scotland: Poll reveals 7 in 10 Scots concerned domestic abuse victims could be coerced into assisted suicide
New polling has revealed that almost seven in ten Scots are concerned that domestic abuse victims could feel pressured into ending their lives by assisted suicide if it is made legal. The polling, conducted by Whitestone Insights between 24 February and 3 March, found...
Scotland: Public concerned about assisted suicide anorexia loophole, according to poll
New polling has revealed that Scots are “deeply worried” that people with eating disorders like anorexia may be able to end their lives by assisted suicide if it is made legal in Scotland. The polling, which was commissioned by women’s policy think tank The Other Half...
“The risks are too great”: Scottish Conservative leader now opposes assisted suicide Bill, leaving it on a knife-edge
The Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party has dropped his support of the Scottish assisted suicide Bill, vowing that he will now vote against it as “the risks are too great”. Russell Findlay MSP previously supported the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults...
Scotland: Assisted suicide Bill on the rocks as 86% of MSPs speak against
86% of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) who expressed an opinion during a speech in the debate on the Scottish assisted suicide Bill during the Stage 3 debate yesterday spoke against the Bill. An analysis of the speeches on day one of Stage 3, completed by...
Assisted suicide pressure group splashes on newspaper ads, prompting major backlash
The well-funded assisted suicide pressure group Dignity in Dying has taken out full front-page adverts in multiple Scottish national newspapers, lobbying for the Scottish assisted suicide Bill, prompting a major backlash, amidst concerns that the adverts promote and...