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.
Leadbeater won’t rule out patients choosing assisted suicide to ease financial burdens on families
Assisted suicide could be permitted for those who wish to end their lives to ease financial burdens on their families under Kim Leadbeater's assisted suicide Bill. During the assisted suicide Bill Committee’s debate scrutinising her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life)...
Week one wrap-up: Experts expose major problems with assisted suicide Bill
The Committee scrutinising Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which passed its Second Reading on 29 November 2024, met to examine witnesses who gave evidence on the content of the Bill. Over three days between 28 and 30 January, MPs heard from...
Week two wrap-up: critical issues revealed during scrutiny of assisted suicide Bill
The assisted suicide Bill Committee scrutinising Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which passed its Second Reading on 29 November 2024, met earlier this month to begin its line-by-line scrutiny of the Bill. On 11 and 12 February, MPs...
Leadbeater refuses to prevent doctors from bringing up assisted suicide unprompted despite concerns this could be coercive
Sponsor of the assisted suicide Bill, Kim Leadbeater, has refused to introduce safeguards to prevent doctors from bringing up assisted suicide with their patients unprompted, despite concerns raised by witnesses last week that such an action could itself be a form of...
Assisted suicide Bill in “jeopardy” after major safeguard scrapped
The future of the assisted suicide Bill is believed to be in “jeopardy” after Kim Leadbeater removed a major safeguard, prompting a number of MPs who had originally supported the Bill to indicate they are having second thoughts about voting for the Bill at Third...
Man who signed up to Dignitas after misdiagnosis of motor neurone disease speaks out against assisted suicide Bill
A man, who initiated the assisted suicide process by contacting an assisted suicide clinic after doctors misdiagnosed him with motor neurone disease, has shared the serious concerns he has about the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill under which he believes he would...