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.
Wrap up: House of Lords assisted suicide Bill select committee – day 1
The House of Lords assisted suicide Bill select committee held two public sessions this week, allowing a select group of Peers to interrogate and cross-examine the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill through expert witnesses. In an unusual and controversial move,...
Academic with disabilities excluded from Edinburgh University assisted suicide debate
A leading disability rights campaigner and assisted suicide opponent has been excluded from taking part in an assisted suicide debate at Edinburgh University because of a lack of wheelchair access. Disability Studies scholar at the University of Leeds, Dr Miro...
‘Dr Death’ defends publishing suicide handbook linked to over 90 deaths
A pro-assisted suicide campaigner, who invented the Sarco gas chamber assisted suicide pod, has been accused of publishing material online that has reportedly been linked to the deaths of over 90 people in the United Kingdom, including the suicides of several...
Man who confessed to murdering parents because they were “losing their independence” calls for legalisation of assisted suicide
As New York state considers legalising assisted suicide, a New York man, who admitted to murdering his parents because they “were losing their independence” as a result of old age, has called for the state to legalise assisted suicide. Lorenz Kraus, who in September...
House of Lords assisted suicide committee refuses to accept written evidence despite changes to Bill
Despite substantial changes to the assisted suicide Bill since it was tabled last year, a House of Lords select committee has chosen not to accept expert written evidence aside from a select few invited witnesses. Following the second day of Second Reading of the...
Victoria, Australia: Major expansion of euthanasia and assisted suicide only six years after law introduced
Just six years after the law came into effect in June 2019, the assisted suicide and euthanasia programme in Victoria, Australia, has been significantly expanded. The raft of changes made by the Government of Victoria, Australia, includes increasing the prognosis...