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.
Scotland: Support for assisted suicide on the decline
Support for assisted suicide in Scotland has significantly declined in recent years according to a new analysis of the data. In an article published in the Journal of Medical Ethics Forum, Professor David Albert Jones, Director of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, has...
BMA consultants vote through motion to ensure they don’t have to be involved with assisted suicide
Senior doctors have voted in favour of a motion calling for the “BMA to ensure that consultants are not expected to be involved in provision of assisted suicide in any way” if it were to become law in the UK. Yesterday, at the British Medical Association (BMA)'s 'UK...
Assisted suicide numbers highest ever as Oregon sees 32% increase in a single year
The state of Oregon had the highest number of assisted suicides in 2023 since the practice began in 1998. The latest annual assisted suicide report ‘Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2023 Data Summary’, released last month, has revealed a total of 367 people ended their...
Inventor of “suicide machine” reveals three questions device will ask users
The inventor of the suicide capsule has revealed that the device's software will ask three questions of the user before it turns on the power so that the user can press the button to end their own life. Dr Philip Nitschke, founder of the suicide advocacy group Exit...
Writer of “Bed Blocker Blues” denies supporting assisted suicide: “I’m totally against assisted dying”
John Cooper Clarke, TV presenter, poet and comedian, has spoken out in opposition to assisted suicide in a conversation with The Telegraph. The 75-year-old stated “I’m totally against assisted dying”. He went on to say “I’m sure people have the most heartbreaking...
Prohibition against “the deliberate killing of a patient” removed from Irish Medical Council ethical guidance
The Irish Medical Council (IMC) has removed a prohibition against "the deliberate killing of a patient" from its most up-to-date guide to professional conduct and ethics. Where the eighth edition, released in 2016, in its section on End of Life Care contains the...
