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.
Woman with disability opts out of assisted suicide after she receives funds to help with her condition
A Canadian woman who has a disability, who had her request for assisted suicide approved after she was unable to afford appropriate housing, has put her request for assisted suicide on hold after receiving thousands of dollars in donations for better housing. The...
Canada: Disabled woman to get assisted suicide after not being able to afford appropriate housing
A 31-year-old disabled woman in Toronto, Canada, is nearing final approval for an assisted suicide after her efforts to find housing appropriate for her disability were unsuccessful. The woman, identified in media reports by the pseudonym Denise, suffers from multiple...
Canadian man applies for euthanasia because of ‘eco-anxiety’
A man suffering from 'eco-anxiety' has applied for euthanasia in Canada. Howard Breen, 68, who lives in Vancouver, is not terminally ill but is experiencing extreme mental suffering because of his concerns about climate change. He told Vice: “It becomes debilitating....
Assisted suicide ‘ceremony’ held in Canadian church sanctuary
A Canadian church has hosted an assisted suicide ceremony for one of its members.. The Churchill Park United Church of Winnipeg held what it described as a “Crossing Over Ceremony” in which an 86 year old, Betty Sanguin, ended her life through an assisted suicide in...
Canada: Euthanasia and assisted suicide to be permitted on the grounds of mental illness
The Canadian Government is planning to allow assisted suicide and euthanasia on the grounds of mental illness alone and has calculated that these deaths would save the taxpayer money. In 2021, the Canadian Parliament removed the requirement that the death of an...
House of Lords rejects assisted suicide
An attempt in the House of Lords to force the Government to introduce legislation on assisted suicide within a year of the Health and Care Bill becoming law has been defeated by 179 votes to 145. Lord Forsyth’s amendment to the Health and Care Bill was defeated...
