View source for Assisted suicide

{{Short description|Suicide undertaken with aid from another person}}
{{distinguish|text = [[assisted dying]], a generic term that includes this and other related practices}}
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[[File:Legality of assisted suicide.svg|thumb|350px|right|Overview of where assisted suicide is legal in at least some circumstances:{{Legend|#0000ffff|Assisted suicide is legal.}}
{{Legend|#00b4ffff|Legalized by court ruling, but not legislated or regulated}}
{{Legend|#C0C0C0|Assisted suicide is illegal.}}
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{{homicide}}
'''Assisted suicide''', also commonly referred to as '''physician-assisted suicide''' ('''PAS'''), is the process by which a person, with the assistance of a medical professional, takes actions to end their life.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |date=30 October 2023 |title=assisted suicide |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/assisted-suicide |access-date=8 November 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |vauthors= |archive-date=9 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109014303/https://www.britannica.com/topic/assisted-suicide |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Medical Aid In Dying Is Not Assisted Suicide, Suicide or Euthanasia – Compassion & Choices |url=https://compassionandchoices.org/resource/not-assisted-suicide/ |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=compassionandchoices.org/ |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=California End of Life Option Act (EOLOA) |url=https://www.uclahealth.org/patient-resources/support-information/patient-education/california-end-life-option-act-eoloa |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.uclahealth.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Health |date=2016-06-16 |title=Medical assistance in dying: Overview |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-services-benefits/medical-assistance-dying.html |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.canada.ca}}</ref>

This practice is strictly regulated by the laws and rules of the state or country that a person lives in. The [[physician]]'s assistance is usually limited to writing a [[Drug prescription|prescription]] for a [[lethal dose]] of drugs. This practice falls under the concept of the medical [[right to die]] (i.e., the right of a person to choose when and how they will die, either through medical aid in dying or refusing life-saving medical treatment).

While assisted suicide is not legal in all countries, it is legal under certain circumstances in some countries including [[Austria]], [[Belgium]], [[Assisted suicide in Canada|Canada]], [[Germany]], [[Luxembourg]],  [[Assisted dying in Australia|parts of Australia]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Portugal]], [[Suicide in Spain|Spain]], [[Suicide in Switzerland|Switzerland]], and [[Assisted suicide in the United States|parts of the United States]]. The constitutional courts of [[Colombia]], [[Estonia]] and [[Italy]] have legalized assisted suicide, but their legislatures have not yet legislated or regulated the practice.

==Terminology==

This practice is referred to using a wide range of terminologies. These include:

* medical aid in dying (MAID)
* medical assistance in dying (MAiD)
* assisted dying (AD)
* physician-assisted death (PAD)
* physician-assisted suicide (PAS)
* assisted suicide (AS)

However, all of these terminologies refer to the same medical practice, in which a physician indirectly assists another person to end their own life. It involves a physician "knowingly and intentionally providing a person with the knowledge or means or both required to commit suicide, including counseling about lethal doses of drugs, prescribing such lethal doses or supplying the drugs". This is a regulated practice in which the patient must meet strict criteria in order to receive medical assistance in dying.<ref>{{cite web |year=2007 |title=Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide (update 2007) |url=http://policybase.cma.ca/dbtw-wpd/Policypdf/PD07-01.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111219230512/http://policybase.cma.ca/dbtw-wpd/Policypdf/PD07-01.pdf |archive-date=19 December 2011 |publisher=Canadian Medical Association}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://committees.parliament.uk/work/6906/assisted-dyingassisted-suicide/|title=Assisted dying/assisted suicide - Committees - UK Parliament|website=committees.parliament.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=8 February 2019 |title=What do assisted dying, assisted suicide and euthanasia mean and what is the law? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y5d2g3wgxo |work=BBC News}}</ref>

===Related terms===
[[Euthanasia]] occurs when somebody directly brings about the death of another. It can occur with or without [[Consent (criminal law)|consent]], and can be classified as [[Voluntary euthanasia|voluntary]] (the person consents), [[Non-voluntary euthanasia|non-voluntary]] (the person is unable to provide consent) or [[Involuntary euthanasia|involuntary]] (the person does not give consent).

===Concerns about use of the term "assisted suicide"===
Some advocates for assisted dying strongly oppose the terms "assisted suicide" and "suicide", and prefer terms such as "medical aid in dying" or "assisted dying". The motivation for this is to distance the debate from suicides commonly performed by those not [[Terminal illness|terminally ill]], as they believe that the use of "suicide" is not an accurate representation of the medical practice.<ref>{{cite web |title=Assisted Dying not Assisted Suicide |url=https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/blog-post/assisted-dying-not-assisted-suicide/ |website=Dignity in Dying |date=10 April 2013 |access-date=21 December 2018 |archive-date=6 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406021722/https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/blog-post/assisted-dying-not-assisted-suicide/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Why medically assisted dying is not suicide |url=https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/assisted_dying_is_not_suicide |website=Dying with Dignity Canada |access-date=21 December 2018 |archive-date=6 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406021722/https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/assisted_dying_is_not_suicide |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://apm.amegroups.com/article/view/50986/html|title=Assisted dying around the world: a status quaestionis|journal=Annals of Palliative Medicine|volume=10|number=3|date=March 2021|access-date=25 December 2021|archive-date=25 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225124317/https://apm.amegroups.com/article/view/50986/html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339055628|title=Las justificaciones de la muerte asistida|journal=Recerca Revista de pensament i anàlisi|number=2|date=2020|volume=25 }}</ref>

In November 2022 at its biannual Annual General Meeting, the [[World Federation of Right to Die Societies]] discussed and adopted the phrase "voluntary assisted dying" as the preferred terminology for this medical practice.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

==Restrictions and criteria==

To qualify for medical aid in dying, individuals must typically meet strict criteria, which may include:

* they have a terminal (i.e. likely to die in 6 months or a year) or incurable illness or disability,
* they are of [[sound mind]],
* they [[informed consent|voluntarily]] and repeatedly express their wish to die,
* they take the specified, lethal dose by their own hand.

Laws vary in scope from place to place. In the United States, medical aid in dying is limited to those who have a prognosis of less than six months to live. Additionally, it is required in the United States that a physician offer alternative methods to limit a patient's suffering or discomfort, such as hospice or palliative care, before allowing them to agree to medical aid in dying.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Medical Aid in Dying - Compassion & Choices|url=https://compassionandchoices.org/our-issues/medical-aid-in-dying/|access-date=2025-04-02|website=compassionandchoices.org/|language=en-US}}</ref>  

In Canada and many European countries, eligibility also includes 'unbearable suffering' (i.e. the person does not need to be terminally ill).<ref name="auto7">{{Cite web|url=https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3774/publications|title=Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill publications – Parliamentary Bills – UK Parliament|website=bills.parliament.uk}}</ref> Switzerland has some of the least restrictive criteria for medical aid in dying. In order to qualify, a medical diagnosis is not required. Any person of sound mind can seek assistance to commit suicide. The [[Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland|Federal Supreme Court]] affirmed in 2023 that in case of mental illness, several intensive discussions with the individual, questioning the patient's relatives and obtaining a medical [[second opinion]] is sufficient for a doctor to prescribe a lethal drug to a mentally ill person. An opinion written by a [[psychiatric]] specialist is not necessary.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Bundesgericht stützt liberale Sterbehilfepraxis |last=Bondolfi |first=Sibilla |date=2023-06-28 |url=https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/hilfe-zum-suizid-bundesgericht-stuetzt-liberale-sterbehilfepraxis |access-date=2025-03-30 |work=Swiss Radio and Television}}</ref> The Swiss association Dignitas requires that the person:
* have a disease which will lead to death (terminal illness), and/or an unendurable incapacitating disability, and/or unbearable and uncontrollable pain,
* be of sound judgement,
* be able to commit the last stage – to swallow, administer the gastric tube or open the valve of the intravenous access tube – by themselves.<ref name="auto5">{{Cite web|url=http://www.dignitas.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=5&lang=en|title=Brochure of DIGNITAS|website=www.dignitas.ch}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dignitas.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20&Itemid=60&lang=en|title=Accompanied Suicide|website=www.dignitas.ch}}</ref>

==Methods==

===Ingestion method===
In the majority of cases, medical aid in dying is performed through the ingestion of pills that are swallowed (either whole or in powdered form), with the patient becoming unconscious after a few minutes and then dying within about two hours.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/7/e036054|title=Provision of medical assistance in dying: a scoping review|first1=Max|last1=Zworth|first2=Carol|last2=Saleh|first3=Ian|last3=Ball|first4=Gaelen|last4=Kalles|first5=Anatoli|last5=Chkaroubo|first6=Mike|last6=Kekewich|first7=Paul Q.|last7=Miller|first8=Marianne|last8=Dees|first9=Andrea|last9=Frolic|first10=Simon|last10=Oczkowski|date=1 July 2020|journal=BMJ Open|volume=10|issue=7|article-number=e036054|via=bmjopen.bmj.com|doi=10.1136/bmjopen-2019-036054|pmid=32641328|pmc=7348461}}</ref><ref name="auto6">{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/euthanasia-debate/300073069/euthanasia-referendum-what-drugs-are-used-in-assisted-dying-and-how-do-they-work|title=Stuff|website=www.stuff.co.nz}}</ref>

=== Intravenous method ===
In some places such as Canada, the medications may be taken by intravenous infusion, with dying normally occurring within a few minutes.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fact Sheet: What is MAID|url=https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/education-resources/fact-sheet-what-is-maid/|website=Dying With Dignity Canada|access-date=2025-11-29}}</ref>

===Inhalation method===
Ingestion of nitrogenous gas has been used in a few cases in Switzerland.<ref>{{Cite web|title=FAQs {{!}} The Last Resort|url=https://www.thelastresort.ch/faqs/|access-date=2025-11-29|language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Medications commonly used ===
* [[Propofol]]<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal|title=Medications and dosages used in medical assistance in dying: a cross-sectional study|first1=Igor|last1=Stukalin|first2=Oluwatobi R.|last2=Olaiya|first3=Viren|last3=Naik|first4=Ellen|last4=Wiebe|first5=Mike|last5=Kekewich|first6=Michaela|last6=Kelly|first7=Laura|last7=Wilding|first8=Roxanne|last8=Halko|first9=Simon|last9=Oczkowski|date=1 January 2022|journal=CMAJ Open|volume=10|issue=1|pages=E19–E26|doi=10.9778/cmajo.20200268|doi-access=free|pmid=35042691|pmc=8920593}}</ref>
* [[Midazolam]]<ref name="auto1" />
* [[Rocuronium]]<ref name="auto1" />
* [[Barbiturate]]s, particularly [[Secobarbital#Use in assisted dying|secobarbital]] (brand name Seconal)<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/23/471595323/drug-company-jacks-up-cost-of-aid-in-dying-medication|title=Drug Company Jacks up Cost of Aid-In-Dying Medication|work=NPR|date=23 March 2016|vauthors=Dembosky A}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bryden|first=Joan|date=November 17, 2017|title=Newly available drug secobarbital could boost number of self-administered assisted deaths|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/secobarbital-canada-assisted-dying-1.4406784|access-date=2025-05-16|work=[[CBC News]]}}</ref> and [[pentobarbital]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/victoria-confirms-access-to-medication-for-volunta|title=Victoria confirms access to medication for voluntary assisted dying|website=NewsGP}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-20/assisted-dying-what-is-need-from-drugs-for-voluntary-euthanasia/9069896|title=Dying a good death: What's needed from voluntary euthanasia drugs|newspaper=ABC News|date=20 October 2017|via=www.abc.net.au}}</ref>

Other medications and medication combinations have been considered, and typically vary by state or country.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/01/medical-aid-in-dying-medications/580591/|title=The Doctors Who Invented a New Way to Help People Die|first=Jennie|last=Dear|website=[[The Atlantic]]|date=22 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Assisted Suicide Deaths Are Not Peaceful as Patients Take High Doses of Experimental Drugs Which Generate Complications|url=https://patientsrightsaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/PRAF-Assisted-Suicide-Deaths-Not-Peaceful-4-25-long.pdf|access-date=2025-05-16}}</ref>

In Canada, a sequence of [[midazolam]], [[propofol]] and [[rocuronium]] is used.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/blog/clarification-about-the-medications-used-in-a-maid-provision/|title=Clarification about the medications used in a MAID provision|first=Sarah|last=Dobec|date=24 May 2024|website=Dying With Dignity Canada}}</ref>

In Oregon, in 2022, more than 70% of ingestions used the drug combination DDMAPh ([[diazepam]], [[digoxin]], [[morphine]] sulfate, [[amitriptyline]], [[phenobarbital]]),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aid in Dying Medications & the Clinical Competencies of Prescribing|url=https://cme.cityofhope.org/sites/default/files/May%20End%20of%20Life%20Symposium%20Webinar%20Series%20Presentation%20Slides.pdf|access-date=2025-05-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/medical-aid-in-dying-a-comprehensive-breakdown|title=Medical Aid in Dying: A Comprehensive Breakdown|website=Discover Magazine}}</ref> and 28% used the drug combination DDMA (diazepam, digoxin, morphine sulfate, amitriptyline). These medication combinations have largely replaced the use of individual medications in previous years. Over 2001–22, the median time to death for DDMAPh was 42 minutes and for DDMA 49 minutes.<ref>p9 and p18 of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act 2022 data summary https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/PROVIDERPARTNERRESOURCES/EVALUATIONRESEARCH/DEATHWITHDIGNITYACT/Documents/year25.pdf</ref> Other US states also use similar drug combinations to facilitate medical aid in dying.<ref name="Worthington">{{Cite journal|title=Efficacy and safety of drugs used for 'assisted dying'|first1=Ana|last1=Worthington|first2=Ilora|last2=Finlay|first3=Claud|last3=Regnard|date=4 May 2022|journal=British Medical Bulletin|volume=142|issue=1|pages=15–22|doi=10.1093/bmb/ldac009|pmid=35512347|pmc=9270985}}</ref>

In the Netherlands, very high-dose barbiturates have been recommended by the Netherlands' Guidelines for the Practice of Euthanasia.<ref name="Worthington" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.government.nl/topics/euthanasia/euthanasia-assisted-suicide-and-non-resuscitation-on-request|title=Euthanasia, assisted suicide and non-resuscitation on request in the Netherlands - Euthanasia - Government.nl|first=Ministerie van Justitie en|last=Veiligheid|date=4 September 2011|website=www.government.nl}}</ref> In the [[Dignitas (non-profit organisation)|Dignitas]] program in Switzerland, after taking an anti-emetic, the person ingests sodium [[pentobarbital]] (NaP, a.k.a. Nembutal), usually 15 grams. This is normally swallowed with water, but may be ingested by gastric tube or intravenously.<ref name="auto5" /> In the Swiss [[Pegasos Swiss Association|Pegasos]] program, sodium pentobarbital is taken intravenously.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pegasos-association.com/faqs/|title=FAQs|website=Pegasos Swiss Association}}</ref>

[[File:Secobarbital DOJ.jpg|thumb|[[Secobarbital]] was one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for physician-assisted suicide in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Hedberg K, Hopkins D, Kohn M|title=Five years of legal physician-assisted suicide in Oregon|journal=The New England Journal of Medicine|volume=348|issue=10|pages=961–964|date=March 2003|pmid=12621146|doi=10.1056/NEJM200303063481022|doi-access=free}}</ref>]]

== Witnessing the act ==

===Medical staff or volunteers===

In most countries, medical staff such as doctors or nurses are permitted to accompany the patient and serve as a witness, so long as the patient is the only person who handles and ingests the medication on their own.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ANA Position Statement: The Nurse's Role When a Patient Requests Medical Aid in Dying {{!}} OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing|url=https://ojin.nursingworld.org/table-of-contents/volume-24-2019/number-3-september-2019/nurses-role-medical-aid-in-dying/|website=ojin.nursingworld.org|access-date=2025-11-29}}</ref>

Other witnesses are also typically allowed, such as friends, family, or community volunteers. In Oregon in 2022, it was found that a medical staff or volunteer was present in 28% of cases when medications were ingested, and in 55% of cases at time of death.<ref>p14 of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act 2022 data summary https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/PROVIDERPARTNERRESOURCES/EVALUATIONRESEARCH/DEATHWITHDIGNITYACT/Documents/year25.pdf</ref>

===Duo-euthanasia===
Some countries, such as the Netherlands, allow duo-euthanasia, in which partners die together. In 2023, 66 people (33 couples) chose to die by duo-euthanasia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0jjq2vynq7o|title=Duo euthanasia: Why a happily married couple decided to die together|date=28 June 2024|website=BBC News}}</ref> Former Dutch prime minister [[Dries van Agt]] and his wife passed away by doing this.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-02-13|title='Duo euthanasia': In the Netherlands, a famous couple chooses to die together|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/13/netherlands-duo-euthanasia-dutch-prime-minister/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213080905/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/13/netherlands-duo-euthanasia-dutch-prime-minister/|archive-date=13 February 2024|access-date=2025-05-16|newspaper=The Washington Post|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/10/duo-euthanasia-former-dutch-prime-minister-dies-wife-dries-eugenie-van-agt|title=Duo euthanasia: former Dutch prime minister dies hand in hand with his wife|first=Senay|last=Boztas|date=10 February 2024|website=The Guardian}}</ref>

==Legality by country and region==
[[File:Legality of assisted suicide.svg|thumb|350px|right|Status of assisted suicide around the world:
{{Legend|#0000ffff|Physician-assisted suicide is legal.{{refn|group=note|name=PortugalNote|'''Portugal''': Law not yet in force, awaits regulation to be implemented. The law legalizing physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, Law n.º 22/2023, of 22 May,<ref name="diariodarepublica.pt">{{Cite web|url=https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/lei/22-2023-213498831|title=Law n.º 22/2023, of 22 May, published on the 1st Series of Diário da República, n.º 101, of 25 May 2023, in Portuguese, retrieved 25 May 2023.}}</ref> states in Article 31 that the regulation must be approved within 90 days of the publishing of the law, which would have been 23 August 2023. However, the regulation has not yet been approved by the government. On 24 November 2023, the Ministry of Health stated that the regulation of the law would be the responsibility of the new government elected in the 10 March 2024 elections.<ref name="Observador">{{cite news |last1=Caeiro |first1=Tiago |title=Eutanásia não avança para já. Ministério da Saúde deixa regulamentação para o próximo governo |url=https://observador.pt/2023/11/24/eutanasia-nao-avanca-para-ja-ministerio-da-saude-deixa-regulamentacao-para-o-proximo-governo/ |trans-title=Euthanasia is not moving forward for now. Ministry of Health leaves regulation to the next government |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=Observador |date=24 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202164552/https://observador.pt/2023/11/24/eutanasia-nao-avanca-para-ja-ministerio-da-saude-deixa-regulamentacao-para-o-proximo-governo/ |archive-date=2 December 2023 |language=Portuguese}}</ref> The law, according to its Article 34, will only enter into force 30 days after the regulation is published.}}}}
{{Legend|#00b4ffff|Legalized by court ruling, but not legislated or regulated}}
{{Legend|#C0C0C0|Physician-assisted suicide is illegal.}}
]]
[[File:1998- EAS euthanasia and assisted suicide - by country or state.svg |thumb|350px |Rates of euthanasia and assisted suicide (EAS) have increased substantially in developed countries, with wide variance in the rates of increase.<ref name="PopDevRvw_20240125">{{cite journal |last1=Colombo |first1=Asher D. |last2=Dalla-Zuanna |first2=Gianpiero |title=Data and Trends in Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia, and Some Related Demographic Issues |journal=Population and Development Review |date=25 January 2024 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=233–257 |doi=10.1111/padr.12605|hdl=11585/955009 |hdl-access=free }} Fig. 1.</ref>]]

===Australia===
{{Main|Euthanasia in Australia}}

Laws regarding assisted suicide in Australia are a matter for [[States and territories of Australia|state and territory governments]]. Physician assisted suicide is currently legal in all Australian states: New South Wales,<ref name="nsw">{{cite web |url=https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/bills/Pages/bill-details.aspx?pk=3891|title=Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2021|access-date=19 May 2022|archive-date=27 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027045446/https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/bills/Pages/bill-details.aspx?pk=3891|url-status=live}}</ref> Victoria,<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.sbs.com.au/news/voluntary-euthanasia-is-now-legal-in-victoria |title = Voluntary euthanasia is now legal in Victoria |work = SBS News |access-date = 19 June 2019 |archive-date = 7 July 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210707165640/https://www.sbs.com.au/news/voluntary-euthanasia-is-now-legal-in-victoria |url-status = live }}</ref> South Australia, Western Australia,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-10/voluntary-euthanasia-becomes-law-in-wa-in-emotional-scenes/11784828|title=Voluntary euthanasia becomes law in WA in emotional scenes at Parliament|date=10 December 2019|access-date=7 November 2020|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|archive-date=10 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210183709/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-10/voluntary-euthanasia-becomes-law-in-wa-in-emotional-scenes/11784828|url-status=live}}</ref> Tasmania<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-23/tasmania-passes-assisted-dying-legislation/100024852|title=Tasmania passes voluntary assisted dying legislation, becoming third state to do so|date=23 March 2021|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|access-date=23 May 2021|archive-date=27 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210327210819/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-23/tasmania-passes-assisted-dying-legislation/100024852|url-status=live}}</ref> and Queensland.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/16/queensland-mps-vote-to-legalise-voluntary-assisted-dying|title=Queensland MPs vote to legalise voluntary assisted dying|date=16 September 2021|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 September 2021|archive-date=5 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205233420/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/16/queensland-mps-vote-to-legalise-voluntary-assisted-dying|url-status=live}}</ref> It remains illegal in all Australian territories, however the Australian Capital Territory plans to legalise this by 2024,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Allen |first=Craig |date=20 May 2023 |title=The ACT's proposed voluntary assisted dying laws have yet to be introduced, but could be the most liberal in the country |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-21/calls-for-voluntary-assisted-dying-laws-soon-in-the-act/102359322 |access-date=20 August 2023 |archive-date=20 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230820012932/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-21/calls-for-voluntary-assisted-dying-laws-soon-in-the-act/102359322 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the Northern Territory is holding an investigation due to report in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Northern Territory Government |date=2023 |title=Project Management Office |url=https://cmc.nt.gov.au/project-management-office |access-date=20 August 2023 |website=Department of Chief Minister and Cabinet |language=en |archive-date=20 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230820012933/https://cmc.nt.gov.au/project-management-office |url-status=live }}</ref>

Under Victorian law, patients can ask medical practitioners about assisted suicide, and doctors, including conscientious objectors, should refer to appropriately trained colleagues who do not conscientiously object.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/hospitals-and-health-services/patient-care/end-of-life-care/voluntary-assisted-dying/health-practitioner-information |title = Health practitioner information on voluntary assisted dying |access-date = 19 June 2019 |archive-date = 15 May 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210515150321/https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/hospitals-and-health-services/patient-care/end-of-life-care/voluntary-assisted-dying/health-practitioner-information |url-status = live }}</ref> Health practitioners are restricted from initiating conversation or suggesting VAD to a patient unprompted.

Physician assisted suicide was legal in the [[Northern Territory]] for a short time under the [[Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995]], until this law was overturned by the Federal Parliament which also removed the ability for territories to pass legislation relating to assisted dying, however this prohibition was repealed in December 2022 with the passing of [[Restoring Territory Rights Act 2022]]. The highly controversial 'Euthanasia Machine', the first invented voluntary assisted dying machine of its kind, created by [[Philip Nitschke]], utilised during this period is presently held at London's [[Science Museum, London|Science Museum]].<ref>{{cite web |url = https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/search?q=%22euthanasia%20machine%22 |title = Euthanasia machine, Australia, 1995–1996 |access-date = 5 May 2020 |archive-date = 6 December 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211206030339/https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/search?q=%22euthanasia%20machine%22 |url-status = live }}</ref>

===Austria===
[[File:Assisted suicide in Europe.svg|thumb|347x347px|right|Current status of assisted suicide in Europe:
{{Legend|#0000ffff|Assisted suicide is legal.{{refn|group=note|name=PortugalNote}}}}
{{Legend|#00b4ffff|Legalized by court ruling, but not legislated or regulated}}
{{Legend|#ddddddff|Assisted suicide is not legal.}}
]]
In December 2020, the [[Austrian Constitutional Court]] ruled that the prohibition of assisted suicide was unconstitutional.<ref name="BradeFriedrich" /> In December 2021, the [[Austrian Parliament]] legalized assisted suicide for those who are terminally ill or have a permanent, debilitating condition.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Austria's parliament legalizes assisted suicide|url=https://www.dw.com/en/austrias-parliament-legalizes-assisted-suicide/a-60154513|journal=DW|date=16 December 2021|access-date=17 December 2021|archive-date=2 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220102192315/https://www.dw.com/en/austrias-parliament-legalizes-assisted-suicide/a-60154513|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1 January 2022|title=New law allowing assisted suicide takes effect in Austria|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59847371|access-date=2 January 2022|archive-date=2 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220102085136/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59847371|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Belgium===
The Euthanasia Act legalized voluntary euthanasia in Belgium in 2002,<ref>{{cite web|title=Moniteur Belge – Belgisch Staatsblad|url=http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi/article_body.pl?language=nl&pub_date=2002-06-22&numac=2002009590&caller=summary|url-status=live|website=fgov.be|language=nl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061009151629/http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi/article_body.pl?language=nl&caller=summary&pub_date=2002-06-22&numac=2002009590 |archive-date=9 October 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Moniteur Belge – Belgisch Staatsblad|url=http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi/article_body.pl?language=fr&pub_date=2002-06-22&numac=2002009590&caller=summary|url-status=live|website=fgov.be|language=fr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061009151509/http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi/article_body.pl?language=fr&caller=summary&pub_date=2002-06-22&numac=2002009590 |archive-date=9 October 2006 }}</ref> but it did not cover physician-assisted suicide.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Adams M, Nys H | title = Comparative reflections on the Belgian Euthanasia Act 2002 | journal = Medical Law Review | volume = 11 | issue = 3 | pages = 353–376 | date = 1 September 2003 | pmid = 16733879 | doi = 10.1093/medlaw/11.3.353 }}</ref>

===Canada===
{{Main|Euthanasia in Canada}}

In Canada, physician-assisted suicide was first legalized in the province of Quebec on 5 June 2014.<ref>{{cite news |date=10 December 2015 |title=Is it euthanasia or assisted suicide? Quebec's end-of-life care law explained |newspaper=National Post |location=Toronto, Ontario |url=https://nationalpost.com/health/is-it-euthanasia-or-assisted-suicide-quebecs-end-of-life-care-law-explained |access-date=5 January 2016 |vauthors=Hamilton G |archive-date=12 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612041220/https://nationalpost.com/category/news/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was declared nationally legal by the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] on 6 February 2015, in ''[[Carter v Canada (AG)|Carter v. Canada (Attorney General)]]''.<ref>[https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/14637/index.do ''Carter v. Canada (Attorney General)''<nowiki>, 2015 S.C.C. 5, [2015] 1 S.C.R. 331</nowiki>]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118090445/https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/14637/index.do |date=18 January 2016 }}</ref>

National legislation formalizing physician-assisted suicide passed in mid-June 2016, for patients facing an estimated death within six months.<ref>[http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/2016_3.pdf Bill C-14, ''An Act to amend the Criminal Code & to make related amendments to other Acts (medical assistance in dying)'', 1st Sess., 42nd Parl., 2015–2016 (assented to 2016‑06‑17), S.C. 2016, c. 3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105001837/http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/2016_3.pdf |date=5 November 2021 }}.</ref> Eligibility criteria have been progressively expanded over time. As of March 2021, individuals no longer need to be terminally ill in order to qualify for assisted suicide.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Department of Justice |date=18 March 2021 |title=New medical assistance in dying legislation becomes law |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2021/03/new-medical-assistance-in-dying-legislation-becomes-law.html |access-date=19 March 2023 |website=www.canada.ca |archive-date=19 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319205732/https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2021/03/new-medical-assistance-in-dying-legislation-becomes-law.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Legislation allowing for assisted suicide for mental illness was expected to come into force on 17 March 2023, but has since been postponed until 2027.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Health |date=16 June 2016 |title=Medical assistance in dying |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/medical-assistance-dying.html |access-date=19 March 2023 |website=www.canada.ca |archive-date=29 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529064640/https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/medical-assistance-dying.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Between 10 December 2015 and 30 June 2017, 2,149 medically assisted deaths were documented in Canada. Research published by Health Canada illustrates physician preference for physician-administered voluntary euthanasia, citing concerns about effective administration and prevention of the potential complications of self-administration by patients.<ref>{{citation |url=http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2018/sc%E2%80%91hc/H14%E2%80%91230%E2%80%913%E2%80%912018%E2%80%91eng.pdf |title=Second Interim Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada |author=Health Canada |author-link=Health Canada |date=October 2017 |publisher=Health Canada |location=Ottawa |isbn=978-0-660-20467-3 |id=H14‑230/2‑2017E‑PDF |postscript=. |access-date=16 March 2020 |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126190234/http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2018/sc%E2%80%91hc/H14%E2%80%91230%E2%80%913%E2%80%912018%E2%80%91eng.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

===China===
In China, assisted suicide is illegal under Articles 232 and 233 of the [[Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000136|title=Euthanasia & Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS) around the World - Euthanasia - ProCon.org|website=euthanasia.procon.org|access-date=7 December 2016|archive-date=30 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330093516/https://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000136}}</ref> In China, suicide or neglect is considered homicide and can be punished by three to seven years in prison.<ref name="glm">{{cite web |vauthors=Zeldin W |title=China: Case of Assisted Suicide Stirs Euthanasia Debate |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2011-08-17/china-case-of-assisted-suicide-stirs-euthanasia-debate/ |website=The Library of Congress |date=17 August 2011 |access-date=29 December 2017 |archive-date=29 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129165852/http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/china-case-of-assisted-suicide-stirs-euthanasia-debate/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 2011, Zhong Yichun, a farmer, was sentenced to two years imprisonment by the People's Court of Longnan County, in China's Jiangxi Province for assisting Zeng Qianxiang to die by suicide. Zeng had a mental illness and repeatedly asked Zhong to help him die by suicide. In October 2010, Zeng took excessive sleeping pills and lay in a cave. As planned, Zhong called him 15 minutes later to confirm that he was dead and buried him. However, according to the autopsy report, the cause of death was from suffocation, not an overdose. Zhong was convicted of criminal negligence. In August 2011, Zhong appealed the court sentence, but it was rejected.<ref name="glm" />

In 1992, a physician was accused of murdering a patient with advanced cancer by lethal injection. He was eventually acquitted.<ref name="glm" />

===Colombia===
In May 1997 the Colombian Constitutional Court allowed for the voluntary euthanasia of sick patients who requested to end their lives, by passing Article 326 of the 1980 Penal Code.<ref name="McDougall 2008">{{harvnb|McDougall|Gorman|2008}}</ref> This ruling owes its success to the efforts of a group that strongly opposed voluntary euthanasia. When one of its members brought a lawsuit to the Colombian Supreme Court against it, the court issued a 6 to 3 decision that "spelled out the rights of a terminally ill person to engage in voluntary euthanasia".<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Whiting R | title = A Natural Right to Die: Twenty-Three Centuries of Debate | year = 2002 | location = Westport, Connecticut | pages = [https://archive.org/details/naturalrighttodi00whit/page/n51 41] | isbn = 978-0-313-31474-2 | url =https://archive.org/details/naturalrighttodi00whit| url-access = limited }}</ref>

===Denmark===
Assisted suicide is illegal in Denmark. Passive euthanasia, or the refusal to accept treatment, is not illegal. A survey from 2014 found that 71% of Denmark's population was in favor of legalizing voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Nielsen ME, Andersen MM | title = Bioethics in Denmark. Moving from first- to second-order analysis? | journal = Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics | volume = 23 | issue = 3 | pages = 326–333 | date = July 2014 | pmid = 24867435 | doi = 10.1017/S0963180113000935 | s2cid = 6706267 | url = https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/137621427/bioethicsindenmarkprepub.pdf | access-date = 5 December 2019 | archive-date = 9 December 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211209072249/https://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/137621427/bioethicsindenmarkprepub.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref>

===France===
Assisted suicide is not legal in France. The controversy over legalising voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is not as big as in the United States because of the country's "well developed [[hospice]] care programme".<ref name="McDougall 2008 84">{{harvnb|McDougall|Gorman|2008|p=84}}</ref> However, in 2000 the controversy over the topic was ignited with {{interlanguage link|Vincent Humbert|fr}}. After a car crash that left him "unable to 'walk, see, speak, smell or taste'", he used the movement of his right thumb to write a book, ''I Ask the Right to Die ({{interlanguage link|Je vous demande le droit de mourir|fr}})'', in which he voiced his desire to "die legally".<ref name="McDougall 2008 84" /> After his appeal was denied, his mother assisted in killing him by injecting him with an overdose of barbiturates that put him into a coma, killing him two days later. Though his mother was arrested for aiding in her son's death and later acquitted, the case did jump-start new legislation which states that when medicine serves "no other purpose than the artificial support of life" it can be "suspended or not undertaken".<ref>{{harvnb|McDougall|Gorman|2008|p=86}}</ref>

===Germany===
Killing somebody in accordance with their demands is always illegal under the [[Strafgesetzbuch|German criminal code]] (Paragraph 216, "Killing at the request of the victim").<ref>{{cite web
| title = German Criminal Code
| publisher = German Federal Ministry of Justice
| url = http://bundesrecht.juris.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stgb.html#StGB_000P216
| access-date = 9 July 2013
| archive-date = 20 April 2010
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100420053742/http://bundesrecht.juris.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_stgb.html#StGB_000P216
| url-status = live
}}</ref>

That said, assisting suicide is now generally legal as the [[Federal Constitutional Court]] has ruled in 2020 that it is generally protected under the [[Basic Law]]. This milestone decision overturned a ban on the commercialization of assisted suicide and set out an entirely new course for countries or jurisdictions contemplating such a provision.<ref name="BradeFriedrich">{{cite news |vauthors=Brade A, Friedrich R |title=Stirb an einem anderen Tag |url=https://verfassungsblog.de/stirb-an-einem-anderen-tag/ |access-date=17 January 2021 |work=Verfassungsblog |date=16 January 2021 |archive-date=6 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206115405/https://verfassungsblog.de/stirb-an-einem-anderen-tag/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Since suicide itself is legal, assistance or encouragement is not punishable by the usual legal mechanisms dealing with complicity and incitement (German criminal law follows the idea of "accessories of complicity" which states that "the motives of a person who incites another person to commit suicide, or who assists in its commission, are irrelevant").<ref name="Wolfslast2008">{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-1-4020-6496-8_8 |chapter=Physician-Assisted Suicide and the German Criminal Law |title=Giving Death a Helping Hand |series=International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine |year=2008 | vauthors = Wolfslast G |volume=38 |pages=87–95 |isbn=978-1-4020-6495-1 }}</ref> Whereas the traditional approach for establishing an assisted dying service has always been based on identifying criteria for who was eligible for it predicated on a view regarding a person's acceptable quality of life (e.g. condition of health or illness), the ruling by the German court stated that government in pluralist societies can not do so as it would violate one's autonomy, the principle of person-state separation. That suggests an alternative model for an assisted dying regime similar to that in Switzerland where no government legislated regime was created but where the provision has existed for decades.<ref>Dankwort, J. 6 April 2023.Overcoming impediments to medically assisted dying: A signal for another approach? Journal of Medical Ethics Forum. Accessed 14 September 2023. https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/2023/04/06/overcoming-impediments-to-medically-assisted-dying-a-signal-for-another-approach/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023055504/https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/2023/04/06/overcoming-impediments-to-medically-assisted-dying-a-signal-for-another-approach/ |date=23 October 2023 }}</ref>

====Travel to Switzerland====
Between 1998 and 2018 around 1,250 German citizens (almost three times the number of any other nationality) travelled to [[Dignitas (non-profit organisation)|Dignitas]] in Zurich, Switzerland, for an assisted suicide, where this has been legal since 1998.<ref name="Statistiken">{{Cite web | url=http://www.dignitas.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32&Itemid=72&lang=de | title=Statistiken | access-date=23 April 2020 | archive-date=5 December 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205233500/http://www.dignitas.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32&Itemid=72&lang=de | url-status=live }}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=April 2020}}<ref name="pmid12560284">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hurst SA, Mauron A | title = Assisted suicide and euthanasia in Switzerland: allowing a role for non-physicians | journal = BMJ | volume = 326 | issue = 7383 | pages = 271–273 | date = February 2003 | pmid = 12560284 | pmc = 1125125 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.326.7383.271 }}</ref> Switzerland is one of the few countries that permit assisted suicide for non-resident foreigners.<ref name="assistedsuicide.org">{{Cite web | url=http://www.assistedsuicide.org/suicide_laws.html | title=Assisted Suicide Laws Around the World – Assisted Suicide | access-date=22 July 2015 | archive-date=11 August 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150811170601/http://assistedsuicide.org/suicide_laws.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

====Physician-assisted suicide====
Physician-assisted suicide was formally legalised on 26 February 2020 when Germany's top court removed the prohibition of "professionally assisted suicide".<ref>{{cite news |title=Germany overturns ban on professionally assisted suicide |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51643306 |access-date=26 February 2020 |archive-date=12 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712200318/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51643306 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Iceland===
Assisted suicide is illegal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alzheimer-europe.org/Policy-in-Practice2/Country-comparisons/Healthcare-and-decision-making-in-dementia/Iceland|title=Iceland|work=alzheimer-europe.org|access-date=18 January 2013|archive-date=14 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514140700/http://www.alzheimer-europe.org/Policy-in-Practice2/Country-comparisons/Healthcare-and-decision-making-in-dementia/Iceland}}</ref>

===Ireland===
Assisted suicide is illegal. "Both euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal under Irish law. Depending on the circumstances, euthanasia is regarded as either manslaughter or murder and is punishable by up to life imprisonment."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://hse.ie/eng/health|title=Ireland's Health Services – Ireland's Health Service|work=Ireland's Health Service|access-date=15 November 2017|language=en|archive-date=15 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215025634/http://www.hse.ie/eng/health/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Italy ===
In Italy, assisted suicide has been conditionally allowed since 2019 under specific circumstances following the [[Constitutional Court of Italy|Italian Constitutional Court]] ruling 242/2019.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 September 2019 |title=Suicidio assistito, la svolta della Consulta: è lecito l'aiuto in casi come quello di dj Fabo – Politica |url=http://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/politica/2019/09/25/fine-vita-oggi-la-decisione-della-consulta-_a6b95173-5579-46ff-af10-02b202047f78.html |access-date=16 June 2022 |website=Agenzia ANSA |language=it |archive-date=16 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616164713/https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/politica/2019/09/25/fine-vita-oggi-la-decisione-della-consulta-_a6b95173-5579-46ff-af10-02b202047f78.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

While active euthanasia remains illegal, assisted suicide is permitted if the following conditions are met:<ref>{{cite court |litigants= |litigants-force-plain= |vol= Ruling 242/2019 |reporter= |opinion= |pinpoint= |court=Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic, |date=25 September 2019 |url= https://www.cortecostituzionale.it/actionSchedaPronuncia.do?anno=2019&numero=242|quote= |postscript= }}</ref>

*The patient suffers from an irreversible condition.
*The patient experiences physical or psychological suffering that they deem unbearable.
*The patient is dependent on life-sustaining treatments.
*The patient is fully capable of making free and informed decisions.

The aforementioned conditions, as well as the methods of assistance for a freely and autonomously requested assisted suicide, must be verified by a public healthcare structure with prior approval from the relevant ethics committee.

In 2024 the Court upheld its previous ruling and clarified that:<ref>{{cite court |litigants= |litigants-force-plain= |vol= Ruling 135/2024 |reporter= |opinion= |pinpoint= |court=Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic, |date=1 July 2024 |url= https://www.cortecostituzionale.it/actionSchedaPronuncia.do?param_ecli=ECLI:IT:COST:2024:135|quote= |postscript= }}</ref>

*life-sustaining treatments are not limited to those administered by medical staff but can also include those provided by family members or caregivers
*the ruling also applies to patients who require life-sustaining treatments but have chosen to refuse them.

As of September 2025, the [[Italian Parliament]] has not yet legislated on the regulation of assisted suicide, while the regional councils of [[Regional Council of Sardinia|Sardinia]] and [[Regional Council of Tuscany|Tuscany]] have passed regional laws outlining organisational procedures for implementing Constitutional Court rulings,<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 February 2025 |title=La Toscana ha approvato una legge per regolare il suicidio assistito |language=it |work=Il Post |url=https://www.ilpost.it/2025/02/11/legge-suicidio-assistito-toscana/ |access-date=11 February 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Murgia |first=Roberto |date=2025-09-17 |title=Fine vita, approvata la legge: in Sardegna via libera al suicidio assistito |url=https://www.unionesarda.it/politica/il-fine-vita-approvata-la-legge-in-sardegna-via-libera-al-suicidio-assistito-ddmdx8vd |access-date=2025-09-17 |website=L'Unione Sarda.it |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-17 |title=La Sardegna approva la legge sul fine vita - Ultima ora - Ansa.it |url=https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/topnews/2025/09/17/la-sardegna-approva-la-legge-sul-fine-vita_8c49f92c-3b35-44e0-9d6e-1e96c8fd39de.html |access-date=2025-09-17 |website=Agenzia ANSA |language=it}}</ref> and the Regional Councils of [[Regional Council of Apulia|Apulia]] and [[Regional Council of Emilia-Romagna|Emilia-Romagna]] have taken administrative action through regional resolutions. The remaining 16 [[Italian regions]] still need to intervene in establishing procedures and timelines.

On 16 June 2022, the first assisted suicide was performed.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 June 2022 |title=E' morto Mario, primo caso di suicidio assistito in Italia – Marche |url=https://www.ansa.it/marche/notizie/2022/06/16/e-morto-mario-primo-caso-di-suicidio-assistito-in-italia_89cfadab-6410-4496-b02e-db1a1d67ac65.html |access-date=16 June 2022 |website=Agenzia ANSA |language=it |archive-date=16 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616103708/https://www.ansa.it/marche/notizie/2022/06/16/e-morto-mario-primo-caso-di-suicidio-assistito-in-italia_89cfadab-6410-4496-b02e-db1a1d67ac65.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |vauthors=Povoledo E |date=16 June 2022 |title=Man Paralyzed 12 Years Ago Becomes Italy's First Assisted Suicide |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/16/world/europe/italy-assisted-suicide.html |access-date=17 June 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=13 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713202441/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/16/world/europe/italy-assisted-suicide.html |url-status=live }}</ref> As of 22 July 2025, nine people have received assisted suicide in Italy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 July 2025 |title=Laura Santi è morta con il suicidio assistito: aveva la sclerosi multipla |language=it |work=Open|url=https://www.open.online/2025/07/22/laura-santi-morta-suicidio-assistito-sclerosi/ |access-date=22 July 2025 }}</ref>

===Jersey===
On 25 November 2021, the [[States Assembly]] voted to legalise assisted dying and a law legalising it will be drafted in due course.<ref>{{cite tweet|number=1463813177402134529|user=GaryBurgessCI|title=BREAKING: Jersey's parliament votes in favour of legalising assisted dying, by 36 votes to 10.A law will be draft…|date=25 November 2021}}</ref> The Channel Island is the first country in the [[British Islands]] to approve the measure.<ref name="inews.co.uk">{{Cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/jersey-assisted-dying-state-assembly-uk-parliament-approve-law-change-1318667|title=Jersey approves assisted dying, and becomes first British Parliament to change law|date=25 November 2021|access-date=25 November 2021|archive-date=26 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126064153/https://inews.co.uk/news/jersey-assisted-dying-state-assembly-uk-parliament-approve-law-change-1318667|url-status=live}}</ref> The proposition, which was lodged by the Council of Ministers, proposes that a legal assisted dying service should be set up for residents over the age of 18 with a terminal illness or other incurable suffering<!-- ! rewrite for tone -->. The service will be voluntary and methods are either physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=States Assembly - P-95-2021 |url=https://statesassembly.je/publications/propositions/2021/p-95-2021 |access-date=2024-12-19 |website=States Assembly |language=en}}</ref>

This follows a campaign and overwhelming public support. Paul Gazzard and his late husband Alain du Chemin were key actors in the campaign in favour of legalising assisted dying. A citizen's jury was established, which recommended that assisted dying be legalised in the island.<ref name="inews.co.uk" />

===Luxembourg===
After again failing to get royal assent for legalizing voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, in December 2008, Luxembourg's parliament amended the country's constitution to take this power away from the monarch, the [[Grand Duke of Luxembourg]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/dec/12/luxembourg-monarchy |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=Luxembourg strips monarch of legislative role |date=12 December 2008 |access-date=9 July 2013 |archive-date=17 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117172342/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/dec/12/luxembourg-monarchy |url-status=live }}</ref> Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide were legalized in the country in April 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=191410|title=Luxembourg becomes third EU country to legalize euthanasia|work=Tehran Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613232728/http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=191410|archive-date= 13 June 2011 }}</ref>

===Netherlands===
{{Main|Euthanasia in the Netherlands}}

In 2002, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to formally legalize voluntary euthanasia.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.who.int/bulletin/archives/79%286%29580.pdf|title=Netherlands, first country to legalize euthanasia|date=2001|work=[[World Health Organization]]|access-date=4 October 2020|archive-date=12 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012062510/https://www.who.int/bulletin/archives/79(6)580.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Physician-assisted suicide is legal under the same conditions as voluntary euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide became allowed under the act approved in 2001 which became effective in 2002 and states the specific procedures and requirements needed in order to provide such assistance. Assisted suicide in the Netherlands follows a medical model which means that only doctors of patients who are suffering "unbearably without hope"<ref>{{cite web |title=Euthanasia is legalised in Netherlands |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/euthanasia-is-legalised-in-netherlands-5364802.html |website=The Independent |date=11 April 2001 |access-date=2 November 2018 |archive-date=12 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180312183311/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/euthanasia-is-legalised-in-netherlands-5364802.html |url-status=live }}</ref> are allowed to grant a request for an assisted suicide. The Netherlands allows people over the age of 12 to pursue an assisted suicide when deemed necessary.

In the Netherlands assisted dying followed by organ donation is also legal.<ref name="auto6" />

===New Zealand===
{{Main|Euthanasia in New Zealand}}

Assisted suicide was decriminalised after a binding [[2020 New Zealand euthanasia referendum|referendum in 2020]] on New Zealand's [[End of Life Choice Act 2019]]. The legislation provided for a year-long delay before it took effect on 6 November 2021.<ref>{{Cite web| vauthors = Mercer P |date=8 November 2021|title=New Zealand Voluntary Euthanasia Law Comes into Effect|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/new-zealand-voluntary-euthanasia-law-comes-into-effect-/6304189.html|url-status=live|access-date=12 November 2021|website=VOA|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108101144/https://www.voanews.com/a/new-zealand-voluntary-euthanasia-law-comes-into-effect-/6304189.html |archive-date=8 November 2021 }}</ref> Under Section 179 of the Crimes Act 1961, it is illegal to 'aid and abet suicide' and this will remain the case outside the framework established under the End of Life Choice Act.

===Norway===
Assisted suicide is illegal in [[Norway]]. It is considered murder and is punishable by up to 21 years imprisonment.

===Portugal===
The Law n.º 22/2023, of 22 May,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/lei/22-2023-213498831 |title=Law n.º 22/2023, of 22 May, published in the Diário da República, n.º 101, of 25 May 2023, in Portuguese, retrieved 25 May 2023. |access-date=14 January 2024 |archive-date=16 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216144121/https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/lei/22-2023-213498831 |url-status=live }}</ref> legalized physician-assisted death, which can be done by physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Physician-assisted death can only be permitted to adults, by their own decision, who are experiencing suffering of great intensity and who have a permanent injury of extreme severity or a serious and incurable disease.

The law is not yet in force, because the government has to regulate it first. It states in Article 31 that the regulation must be approved within 90 days of the publishing of the law, which would have been 23 August 2023. However, the regulation has not yet been approved by the government. According to Article 34, the law will only enter into force 30 days after the regulation is published. On 24 November 2023, the Ministry of Health said the regulation of the law would be the responsibility of the new government elected in the [[2024 Portuguese legislative election|10 March 2024 elections]].<ref name="Observador">{{cite news |last1=Caeiro |first1=Tiago |title=Eutanásia não avança para já. Ministério da Saúde deixa regulamentação para o próximo governo |url=https://observador.pt/2023/11/24/eutanasia-nao-avanca-para-ja-ministerio-da-saude-deixa-regulamentacao-para-o-proximo-governo/ |trans-title=Euthanasia is not moving forward for now. Ministry of Health leaves regulation to the next government |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=Observador |date=24 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202164552/https://observador.pt/2023/11/24/eutanasia-nao-avanca-para-ja-ministerio-da-saude-deixa-regulamentacao-para-o-proximo-governo/ |archive-date=2 December 2023 |language=Portuguese}}</ref>

===Slovenia===
Assisted suicide is illegal in [[Slovenia]] and punishable by up to 5 years of prison unless there are aggravating or mitigating circumstances.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://zakonodaja.com/zakon/kz-1/120-clen-napeljevanje-k-samomoru-in-pomoc-pri-samomoru |title=Napeljevanje k samomoru in pomoč pri samomoru |language=sl |trans-title=Incitement to suicide and assistance in suicide |work=Kazenski zakonik Republike Slovenije [Penal Code of the Republic of Slovenia] |access-date=24 November 2025}}</ref> The regulation of the "right to assistance in voluntary termination of life" was [[2024 Slovenian referendum|supported in a consultative referendum]] that was held on 9 June 2024. A bill to regulate this right passed a parliamentary vote on 24 July 2025, but was rejected by a [[quorum]] of voters in a [[2025 Slovenian assisted dying referendum|legislative referendum held on 23 November 2025]].<ref name="Dnevnik">{{cite news |url=https://www.dnevnik.si/novice/slovenija/do-16-ure-glas-oddalo-29-odstotkov-upravicencev-2768920/ |title=Po padcu zakona: Primc o zmagi kulture življenja, Pleterski o novem poskusu |language=sl |trans-title=After the defeat of the bill: Primc on the victory of the culture of life, Pleterski on a new attempt |newspaper=Dnevnik.si |date=23 November 2025}}</ref> The proposed law was strongly opposed by medical organisations and the Church.<ref name="Dnevnik" />

===South Africa===
South Africa is struggling with the debate over legalizing voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Owing to the underdeveloped health care system that pervades the majority of the country, Willem Landman, "a member of the South African Law Commission, at a symposium on euthanasia at the World Congress of Family Doctors" stated that many South African doctors would be willing to perform acts of voluntary euthanasia when it became legalized in the country.<ref name="McDougall 2008 80">{{harvnb|McDougall|Gorman|2008|p=80}}</ref> He feels that because of the lack of doctors in the country, "[legalizing] euthanasia in South Africa would be premature and difficult to put into practice ...".<ref name="McDougall 2008 80" />
{{full article|Stransham-Ford v Minister of Justice}}
On 30 April 2015, the High Court in [[Pretoria]] granted Advocate Robin Stransham-Ford an order that would allow a doctor to assist him in taking his own life without the threat of prosecution. On 6 December 2016, the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the High Court ruling.<ref name="News24">{{cite web |url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/sca-overturns-right-to-die-ruling-20161206 |title=SCA overturns right-to-die ruling |publisher=News24 |date=6 December 2015 |access-date=6 December 2015 |archive-date=16 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216015836/https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/sca-overturns-right-to-die-ruling-20161206 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Switzerland===
{{Main|Euthanasia in Switzerland}}

Though it is illegal to assist a patient in dying in some circumstances, there are others where there is no offence committed.<ref name="UZ">{{cite journal| vauthors = Schwarzenegger C, Summers SJ | date=3 February 2005| title=Hearing with the Select Committee on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill| journal=House of Lords Hearings| publisher=[[University of Zürich]] Faculty of Law| location=Zürich| url=http://www.rwi.uzh.ch/lehreforschung/alphabetisch/schwarzenegger/publikationen/assisted-suicide-Switzerland.pdf| access-date=1 July 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707004544/http://www.rwi.uzh.ch/lehreforschung/alphabetisch/schwarzenegger/publikationen/assisted-suicide-Switzerland.pdf| archive-date=7 July 2011}} (PDF)</ref> The relevant provision of the Swiss Criminal Code<ref name="SC">{{cite journal |date=23 June 1989| title=Inciting and assisting someone to commit suicide (Verleitung und Beihilfe zum Selbstmord) |journal=Swiss Criminal Code| article-number=115 |publisher=Süisse| language=de |location=Zürich}}</ref> refers to "a person who, for selfish reasons, incites someone to commit suicide or who assists that person in doing so will, if the suicide was carried out or attempted, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment (''Zuchthaus'') of up to 5 years or a term of imprisonment (''Gefängnis'')."

A person brought to court on a charge could presumably avoid conviction by proving that they were "motivated by the good intentions of bringing about a requested death for the purposes of relieving "[[suffering]]" rather than for "selfish" reasons.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Whiting R | title = A Natural Right to Die: Twenty-Three Centuries of Debate | year = 2002 | location = Westport, Connecticut | pages = [https://archive.org/details/naturalrighttodi00whit/page/n56 46] | isbn = 978-0-313-31474-2 | url =https://archive.org/details/naturalrighttodi00whit| url-access = limited }}</ref> In order to avoid conviction, the person has to prove that the deceased knew what they were doing, had the capacity to make the decision, and had made an "earnest" request, meaning they asked for death several times. The person helping also has to avoid actually doing the act that leads to death, lest they be convicted under Article 114: Killing on request (Tötung auf Verlangen) –
A person who, for decent reasons, especially compassion, kills a person on the basis of their serious and insistent request, will be sentenced to a term of imprisonment (Gefängnis). For instance, it should be the suicide subject who actually presses the syringe or takes the pill, after the helper had prepared the setup.<ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Schwarzenegger C, Summers S |title=Hearing with the Select Committee on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill|location=House of Lords, Zurich|date=3 February 2005|url=http://www.rwi.uzh.ch/lehreforschung/alphabetisch/schwarzenegger/publikationen/assisted-suicide-Switzerland.pdf|access-date=1 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707004544/http://www.rwi.uzh.ch/lehreforschung/alphabetisch/schwarzenegger/publikationen/assisted-suicide-Switzerland.pdf|archive-date=7 July 2011}}</ref> This way the country can criminalise certain controversial acts, which many of its people would oppose, while legalising a narrow range of assistive acts for some of those seeking help to end their lives.

Switzerland is the only country in the world which permits assisted suicide for non-resident foreigners,<ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Bondolfi S |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/why-assisted-suicide-is--normal--in-switzerland-/45924614|title=Why assisted suicide is 'normal' in Switzerland|website=swissinfo.ch|date=24 July 2020|access-date=16 October 2022|archive-date=25 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925060153/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/why-assisted-suicide-is--normal--in-switzerland-/45924614|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="assistedsuicide.org" /> causing what some critics have described as [[suicide tourism]]. Between 1998 and 2018 around 1250 German citizens (almost three times the number of any other nationality) travelled to Dignitas in Zurich, Switzerland, for an assisted suicide. During the same period over 400 British citizens also opted to end their life at the same clinic.<ref name="Statistiken" /><ref name="pmid12560284" />

In May 2011, Zurich held a referendum that asked voters whether (i) assisted suicide should be prohibited outright; and (ii) whether Dignitas and other assisted suicide providers should not admit overseas users. Zurich voters heavily rejected both bans, despite anti-euthanasia lobbying from two Swiss [[social conservative]] political parties, the [[Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland]] and [[Federal Democratic Union]]. The outright ban proposal was rejected by 84% of voters, while 78% voted to keep services open should overseas users require them.<ref>{{cite news |title=Swiss vote backs assisted suicide |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-13405376 |work=BBC News |date=15 May 2011 |access-date=23 April 2020 |archive-date=5 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205233648/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-13405376 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In Switzerland non-physician-assisted suicide is legal, the assistance mostly being provided by volunteers, whereas in Belgium and the Netherlands, a physician must be present. In Switzerland, the doctors are primarily there to assess the patient's decision capacity and prescribe the lethal drugs. Additionally, unlike cases in the United States, a person is not required to have a terminal illness but only the capacity to make decisions. About 25% of people in Switzerland who take advantage of assisted suicide do not have a terminal illness but are simply old or "tired of life".<ref name="Andorno 246–253">{{cite journal | vauthors = Andorno R | title = Nonphysician-assisted suicide in Switzerland | journal = Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics | volume = 22 | issue = 3 | pages = 246–253 | date = July 2013 | pmid = 23632255 | doi = 10.1017/S0963180113000054 | url = https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/92579/1/Andorno_Cambridge_Quarterly_3_2013.pdf | access-date = 23 April 2020 | archive-date = 9 December 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211209050339/https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/92579/1/Andorno_Cambridge_Quarterly_3_2013.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref>

250 accompanied suicides took place under the [[Dignitas (non-profit organisation)|Dignitas]] program in Switzerland in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dignitas.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24&Itemid=64&lang=en|title=Report on Activities|website=www.dignitas.ch}}</ref>

===United Kingdom===
{{main|Assisted suicide in the United Kingdom}}

====England and Wales====
Deliberately assisting a suicide is illegal.<ref>[[Richard Huxtable|Huxtable, Richard]]{{cite book | vauthors = Huxtable R |author-link= Richard Huxtable |year=2007 |publisher=Routledge Cavendish |location=Abingdon, UK; New York |isbn=978-1-84472-106-1 |title=Euthanasia, Ethics and the Law: From Conflict to Compromise }}</ref> Between 2003 and 2006, [[Joel Joffe, Baron Joffe|Lord Joffe]] made four attempts to introduce bills that would have legalised physician-assisted suicide in England and Wales. All were rejected by the UK Parliament.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/euthanasia/overview/asstdyingbill_1.shtml |title=Assisted Dying Bill – latest |newspaper=[[BBC News Online]] |access-date=20 December 2019 |archive-date=2 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202112624/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/euthanasia/overview/asstdyingbill_1.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> In the meantime, the Director of Public Prosecutions has clarified the criteria under which an individual will be prosecuted in England and Wales for assisting in another person's suicide.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/press_releases/144_09|title=DPP publishes interim policy on prosecuting assisted suicide: The Crown Prosecution Service|work=cps.gov.uk|date=23 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090927195736/http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/press_releases/144_09|archive-date=27 September 2009}}</ref> These have not been tested by an appellate court as yet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk/a-critical-consideration-of-the-director-of-public-prosecutions-guidelines-in-relation-to-assisted-suicide-prosecutions-and-their-application-to-the-law/|title=A Critical Consideration of the Director of Public Prosecutions Guidelines in Relation to Assisted Suicide Prosecutions and their Application to the Law|work=halsburyslawexchange.co.uk|access-date=4 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306015157/http://www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk/a-critical-consideration-of-the-director-of-public-prosecutions-guidelines-in-relation-to-assisted-suicide-prosecutions-and-their-application-to-the-law/|archive-date=6 March 2012}}</ref>
In 2014, [[Lord Falconer]] of Thoroton tabled an Assisted Dying Bill in the House of Lords which passed its Second Reading but ran out of time before the general election. During its passage peers voted down two amendments which were proposed by opponents of the Bill. In 2015, Labour MP [[Rob Marris]] introduced another Bill, based on the Falconer proposals, in the House of Commons. The Second Reading was the first time the House was able to vote on the issue since 1997. A Populus poll had found that 82% of the British public agreed with the proposals of Lord Falconer's Assisted Dying Bill.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Dignity-in-Dying-Poll-March-2015-WEBSITE-DATATABLES.pdf|title=Dignity in Dying Poll|date=2015|work=Populus|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617124821/http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Dignity-in-Dying-Poll-March-2015-WEBSITE-DATATABLES.pdf|archive-date= 17 June 2015}}</ref> However, in a free vote on 11 September 2015, only 118 MPs were in favour and 330 against, thus defeating the bill.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34208624|title=Assisted Dying Bill: MPs reject 'right to die' law|vauthors=Gallagher J, Roxby P|date=11 September 2015|work=BBC News|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=4 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004172546/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34208624|url-status=live}}</ref> Another bill called [[Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill]] on assisted suicide for terminally ill adults was voted on and passed on 29 November 2024, upon second reading.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-29 |title=MPs back proposals to legalise assisted dying |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgzkp79npgo |access-date=2024-12-19 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Further stages of Parliament's consideration of the bill should proceed.

====Scotland====
Unlike the other jurisdictions in the United Kingdom, suicide was not illegal in Scotland before 1961 (and still is not) thus no associated offences were created in imitation. Depending on the actual nature of any assistance given to a suicide, the offences of murder or [[culpable homicide]] might be committed or there might be no offence at all; the nearest modern prosecutions bearing comparison might be those where a culpable homicide conviction has been obtained when drug addicts have died unintentionally after being given "hands on" non-medical assistance with an injection. Modern law regarding the assistance of someone who intends to die has a lack of certainty as well as a lack of relevant case law; this has led to attempts to introduce statutes providing more certainty.

Independent MSP Margo MacDonald's "End of Life Assistance Bill" was brought before the Scottish Parliament to permit physician-assisted suicide in January 2010. The [[Catholic]] Church and the [[Church of Scotland]], the largest denomination in Scotland, opposed the bill. The bill was rejected by a vote of 85–16 (with 2 abstentions) in December 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/38-EndLifeAssist/index.htm |title=End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill (SP Bill 38) |date=21 January 2010 |publisher=The Scottish Parliament |access-date=12 June 2011 |archive-date=10 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810060725/http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/38-EndLifeAssist/index.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11876821 |title=Margo MacDonald's End of Life Assistance Bill rejected |newspaper=[[BBC News Online]] |date=1 December 2010 |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=5 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205233700/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11876821 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{anchor|ASSB}} The Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill was introduced on 13 November 2013 by the late [[Margo MacDonald]] MSP and was taken up by [[Patrick Harvie]] MSP on Ms MacDonald's death. The Bill entered the main committee scrutiny stage in January 2015 and reached a vote in Parliament several months later; however the bill was again rejected.{{citation needed|date= November 2024}}

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill was introduced by [[Liam McArthur]] MSP on 27 March 2024. It would allow terminally adults to request and receive assistance from medical professionals to end their life.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/s6/assisted-dying-for-terminally-ill-adults-scotland-bill |title=Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill |date=2024 |publisher=The Scottish Parliament |access-date=4 December 2024 }}</ref>

====Northern Ireland====
Health is a [[devolved matter]] in the United Kingdom and as such it would be for the [[Northern Ireland Assembly]] to legislate for assisted dying as it sees fit. As of 2018, there has been no such bill tabled in the Assembly.

===United States===
{{Main|Assisted suicide in the United States}}

{{Map of legality surrounding assisted suicide in the US|align=right|size=323px}}
Physician-assisted dying was first legalized by the 1994 [[Oregon Death with Dignity Act]], with effect delayed by lawsuits until 1997.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://egov.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/pas/ors.shtml |title=Death With Dignity Act Legislative Statute |access-date=2 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629193504/http://egov.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/pas/ors.shtml |archive-date=29 June 2009 }}</ref> As of 2025, it is legal in the following states and districts:

* Oregon since 1997<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oregon Health Authority : Oregon's Death with Dignity Act : Death with Dignity Act: State of Oregon |url=https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/providerpartnerresources/evaluationresearch/deathwithdignityact/pages/index.aspx#:~:text=On%20October%2027,%201997,%20Oregon,a%20physician%20for%20that%20purpose. |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=www.oregon.gov}}</ref>
* [[Washington (state)]] since 2008<ref>[[Washington Death with Dignity Act]]</ref> 
* Montana since 2009<ref>{{Cite web |title=Montana - Compassion & Choices |url=https://compassionandchoices.org/in-your-state/montana/#:~:text=Status%20of%20Medical%20Aid%20in,Compassion%20&%20Choices%20litigated%20this%20case |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=compassionandchoices.org |language=en-US}}</ref>
* Vermont since 2013<ref>Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act of 2013</ref> 
* California since 2016<ref>California End of Life Option Act of 2015, enacted June 2016</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/10/469970753/californias-law-on-medically-assisted-suicide-to-take-effect-june-9/|title=California To Permit Medically Assisted Suicide As of 9 June|date=10 March 2016|work=NPR|vauthors=Aliferis L|access-date=4 April 2018|archive-date=7 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207123751/https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/10/469970753/californias-law-on-medically-assisted-suicide-to-take-effect-june-9/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Colorado since 2016<ref>End of Life Options Act of 2016</ref> 
* [[Washington, D.C.]] since 2017<ref>District of Columbia Death with Dignity Act of 2016</ref>
* Hawaii since 2018<ref>Death with Dignity Act of 2018</ref> 
* New Jersey since 2019<ref>New Jersey Dignity in Dying Bill of Rights Act of 2019</ref> 
* Maine since 2020<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deathwithdignity.org/states/maine/|title=Maine|website=Death With Dignity|language=en-US|access-date=13 June 2019|archive-date=5 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205233450/https://deathwithdignity.org/states/maine/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>effective 1 January 2020 – Maine Death with Dignity Act of 2019</ref>
* New Mexico since 2021<ref>Elizabeth Whitefield End-of-Life Options Act, 2021</ref>
* Delaware since 2025<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-20 |title=Gov. Matt Meyer signs medical aid in dying into law after decade's worth of effort |url=https://www.delawarepublic.org/politics-government/2025-05-20/gov-matt-meyer-signs-medical-aid-in-dying-into-law-after-decades-worth-of-effort |access-date=2025-07-15 |website=Delaware First Media |language=en}}</ref>

The following states are expected to make medically assisted suicide legal in the near future:
* In Illinois there is a law that will allow terminally ill Illinoisians to end their lives with physician-prescribed medication. The law, signed in December 2025, will take effect beginning in September of 2026.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Illinois Death with Dignity Bill Headed to Governor's Desk|url=https://deathwithdignity.org/news/2025/10/illinois-passes-end-of-life-options-act/|date=2025-10-30|access-date=2025-11-29|language=en-US}}</ref>
* In New York, a bill legalizing medically assisted suicide is awaiting Governor [[Kathy Hochul]]'s signature. She has stated that she intends to sign the bill into law in 2026 after pushing to add a series of “guardrails” in the bill.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Izaguirre |first1=Anthony |last2=Hill |first2=Michael |date=2025-12-18 |title=New York is set to legalize medically assisted suicide with ‘guardrails,’ governor says |url=https://apnews.com/article/new-york-terminally-ill-medical-suicide-2c04845dbb2a1a3fe0af00d415c1be5d |access-date=2025-12-19 |website=AP News |language=en-US}}</ref>

Montana is the only state in which medical aid in dying is legal due to a court ruling, rather than a state law. The [[Montana Supreme Court]] ruled in ''[[Baxter v. Montana]]'' (2009) that it found no state law or public policy reason that would prohibit physician-assisted dying.<ref name="2009 MT 449">Baxter v. State, [https://law.justia.com/cases/montana/supreme-court/2009/50c59956-3100-468d-b397-4ab38f6eda4d.html], 224 P.3d 1211, 354 Mont. 234 (2009).</ref>

Access to the procedure is generally restricted to people with a terminal illness and less than six months to live. Patients are generally required to be mentally capable, to get approval from multiple doctors, and to affirm the request multiple times.

For states in which it is illegal, the punishment for participating in medical aid in dying varies. For example, the state of Wyoming does not "recognize common law crimes and does not have a statute specifically prohibiting physician-assisted suicide". While in Florida, "every person deliberately assisting another in the commission of self-murder shall be guilty of manslaughter, a felony of the second degree".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.patientsrightscouncil.org/site/assisted-suicide-state-laws/|title=Assisted Suicide Laws in the United States {{!}} Patients Rights Council|website=www.patientsrightscouncil.org|language=en-US|access-date=17 October 2017|archive-date=11 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911025119/http://www.patientsrightscouncil.org/site/assisted-suicide-state-laws/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Uruguay===
{{main|Euthanasia in Uruguay}}

Assisted suicide, while criminal, does not appear to have caused any convictions, as article 37 of the Penal Code (effective 1934) states: "The judges are authorized to forego punishment of a person whose previous life has been honorable where he commits a homicide motivated by compassion, induced by repeated requests of the victim."<ref>{{cite web | author = Republica Oriental del Uruguay|title=Penal Code of Uruguay|url=http://www.parlamento.gub.uy/Codigos/CodigoPenal/l1t2.htm|website=Parliament of Uruguay|access-date=12 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150730062858/http://www.parlamento.gub.uy/Codigos/CodigoPenal/l1t2.htm|archive-date=30 July 2015}}</ref>

==Arguments for and against==

===Arguments for===
Arguments in support of assisted suicide include
* reduction of human suffering<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wright|first=Oliver|date=2024-11-28|title=The arguments for and against the assisted dying bill|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/assisted-dying-bill-vote-arguments-for-against-kh00tmvvl|access-date=2024-12-19|website=www.thetimes.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/david-cameron-assisted-dying-bill-backing-5swzr5g36|title=David Cameron: Why I'm now backing assisted dying|first=David|last=Cameron|date=27 November 2024|website=www.thetimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdd088r6j28o|title=Ex-prime minister David Cameron backs assisted dying bill|date=27 November 2024|website=BBC News}}</ref>
* compassion
* respect for patient autonomy
* personal liberty
* equal treatment of terminally ill patients on and off life support
* transparency<ref>{{cite web |vauthors=Starks H|title=Physician Aid-in-Dying|url=https://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/pad.html|website=Physician Aid-in-Dying: Ethics in Medicine|publisher=University of Washington School of Medicine|access-date=29 April 2019|archive-date=2 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502054649/https://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/pad.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ethics of responsibility<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|vauthors=Baril A|date=2020|title=Suicidism: A new theoretical framework to conceptualize suicide from an anti-oppressive perspective|url=https://dsq-sds.org/article/view/7053/5711|journal=Disability Studies Quarterly|volume=40|issue=3|pages=1–41|doi=10.18061/dsq.v40i3.7053|doi-access=free|access-date=2 January 2021|archive-date=12 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212075202/https://dsq-sds.org/article/view/7053/5711|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Reasons given by people for seeking assisted suicide====
In 2022 in the Oregon program, the most frequently reported end-of-life concerns were 
* decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable (89%)
* loss of autonomy (86%) 
* loss of dignity (62%)
* burden on family/caregivers (46%)
* losing control of bodily functions (44%)
* inadequate pain control, or concern about it (31%)
* financial implications of treatment (6%)<ref name="auto3">Oregon Death with Dignity Act 2022 data summary https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/PROVIDERPARTNERRESOURCES/EVALUATIONRESEARCH/DEATHWITHDIGNITYACT/Documents/year25.pdf</ref>
Previous years had seen similar factors.<ref>The three most frequently mentioned end-of-life concerns reported by Oregon residents who took advantage of the Death With Dignity Act in 2015 were: decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable (96.2%), loss of [[Autonomy]] (92.4%), and loss of [[Dignity]] (75.4%).{{cite web|title=Oregon Death with Dignit Act: 2015 data SUMMARY|url=https://public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Documents/year18.pdf|website=Oregon.gov|publisher=Oregon Health Authority|access-date=4 October 2016|archive-date=17 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517094212/http://public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Documents/year18.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> 
 
Pain has mostly not been reported as the primary motivation for seeking assisted suicide in the United States.<ref name="Attitudes2016">{{cite journal |vauthors=Emanuel EJ, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD, Urwin JW, Cohen J|title=Attitudes and Practices of Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide in the United States, Canada, and Europe|journal=JAMA|volume=316|issue=1|pages=79–90|date=July 2016|pmid=27380345|doi=10.1001/jama.2016.8499}}</ref>

===Arguments against===

Arguments against assisted dying are
* lack of genuine consent: Some are concerned that vulnerable populations may be at risk of untimely deaths because "patients might be subjected to PAD without their genuine consent".<ref name="auto2">{{cite journal |vauthors=Mayo DJ, Gunderson M|title=Vitalism revitalized.... Vulnerable populations, prejudice, and physician-assisted death|journal=The Hastings Center Report|volume=32|issue=4|pages=14–21|date=July 2002|pmid=12362519|doi=10.2307/3528084|jstor=3528084}}</ref>
* [[Euthanasia and the slippery slope|slippery slope]]: This concern is that once assisted suicide is initiated for the terminally ill, it will progress to other vulnerable communities, namely disabled people, and may begin to be used by those who feel less worthy based on their demographic or socioeconomic status.<ref name="auto2" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/opinion/07douthat.html|title=A More Perfect Death|vauthors=Douthat R|date=6 September 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=24 February 2017|archive-date=6 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206030459/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/opinion/07douthat.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto8">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3wxq28znpqo|title='I could live 30 years – but want to die': Has assisted dying in Canada gone too far?|date=4 April 2025|website=BBC News}}</ref> The UK Government Health and Social Care Select Committee found no evidence of the 'slippery slope' having occurred when it examined the global assisted suicide situation in 2024.<ref name="auto7" />

==Opinions==

===Medical Ethics===
====Hippocratic Oath====
Some doctors<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Kass L|title=Neither for love nor money: why doctors must not kill|journal=The Public Interest|number=94|pages=25–46|year=1989|volume=94|pmid=11651967|url=http://philosophyfaculty.ucsd.edu/faculty/rarneson/Courses/KASSwhydoctorsmust.pdf|access-date=8 December 2016|archive-date=4 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604120345/http://philosophyfaculty.ucsd.edu/faculty/rarneson/Courses/KASSwhydoctorsmust.pdf}}</ref> state that physician-assisted suicide is contrary to the [[Hippocratic Oath]] (c. 400 BC), which is the oath historically taken by physicians. It states: "I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel."<ref name="mit.edu">{{cite web|url=http://classics.mit.edu/Hippocrates/hippooath.html|title=The Internet Classics Archive – The Oath by Hippocrates|work=mit.edu|access-date=19 February 2015|archive-date=10 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210200505/http://classics.mit.edu/Hippocrates/hippooath.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266652/Hippocratic-oath|title=Hippocratic oath|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=10 May 2024|access-date=2 June 2022|archive-date=3 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503090637/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266652/Hippocratic-oath|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the original oath has been modified many times and, contrary to popular belief, is not required by most modern medical schools, nor does it confer any legal obligations on individuals who choose to take it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Greek Medicine – The Hippocratic Oath|date=7 February 2012|url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/greek/greek_oath.html|website=History of Medicine|access-date=22 March 2018|archive-date=7 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307132605/https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/greek/greek_oath.html|url-status=live}}</ref> There are also procedures forbidden by the Hippocratic Oath that are in common practice today, such as abortion and execution.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Oxtoby K|title=Is the Hippocratic oath still relevant to practicing doctors today?|journal=BMJ|date=14 December 2016|article-number=i6629|doi=10.1136/bmj.i6629|doi-access=free}}</ref>

====Declaration of Geneva====
The [[Declaration of Geneva]] is a revision of the Hippocratic Oath, first drafted in 1948 by the [[World Medical Association]] in response to forced (involuntary) euthanasia, eugenics and other medical crimes performed in [[Nazi Germany]]. It states "I will respect the autonomy and dignity of my patient," as well as "I will maintain the utmost respect for human life."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-geneva/|title=WMA DECLARATION OF GENEVA|date=6 November 2017|website=www.wma.net|language=en-US|access-date=2 January 2018|archive-date=15 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015161707/https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-geneva/|url-status=live}}</ref>

====International Code of Medical Ethics====
The [[International Code of Medical Ethics]], last revised in 2006, states that "a physician shall always bear in mind the obligation to respect human life" in the section "duties of physicians to patients."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/c8/|title=WMA International Code of Medical Ethics|date=1 October 2006|work=wma.net|access-date=17 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825225730/http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/c8/|archive-date=25 August 2012}}</ref>

====Statement of Marbella====
The Statement of Marbella was adopted by the 44th World Medical Assembly in Marbella, Spain, in 1992. It provides that "physician-assisted suicide, like voluntary euthanasia, is unethical and must be condemned by the medical profession."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/p13/|title=WMA Statement on Physician-Assisted Suicide|date=1 May 2005|work=wma.net|access-date=17 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725091434/http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/p13/|archive-date=25 July 2014}}</ref>

====American Medical Association Code of Ethics ====
As of 2022, the American Medical Association (AMA) opposed medical aid in dying. In response to the ongoing debate about medical aid in dying, the AMA has issued guidance for both those who support and oppose physician-assisted suicide. The AMA Code of Ethics Opinion 5.7 states that "physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician's role as healer," and that it would be "difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks," but does not explicitly prohibit the practice. The AMA Code of Ethics Opinion 1.1.7 "articulates the thoughtful moral basis for those who support assisted suicide," and states that outside of specific situations in which physicians have clear obligations, such as emergency care or respect for civil rights, "physicians may be able to act (or refrain from acting) in accordance with the dictates of their conscience without violating their professional obligations."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Physician-Assisted Suicide|url=https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/ethics/physician-assisted-suicide|access-date=28 June 2022|website=American Medical Association|language=en|archive-date=6 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706132032/https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/ethics/physician-assisted-suicide|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Healthcare Provider Opinions===
In many medical aid in dying programs, physicians play a significant role, usually expressed as "gatekeeper," often putting them at the forefront of the issue. Decades of research and polling show that physicians in the US and several European countries are less supportive of the legalization of medical aid in dying than the general public.<ref name="seale">{{cite journal |vauthors=Seale C|title=Legalisation of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide: survey of doctors' attitudes|journal=Palliative Medicine|volume=23|issue=3|pages=205–212|date=April 2009|pmid=19318460|doi=10.1177/0269216308102041|s2cid=43547476}}</ref> While "about two-thirds of the American public since the 1970s" has supported legalization, surveys of American physicians "rarely show as much as half supporting a move" towards legalization.<ref name="seale" /> However, the opinions of physicians and other healthcare professionals vary widely on the issue of physician-assisted suicide, as shown in the following tables.

{| class="wikitable"
! Study || Population || Responses || colspan="2" |Willing to assist || colspan="2" |Not willing to assist 
|-
| Canadian Medical Association, 2011<ref name="cma">{{cite web|author=Canadian Medical Association|title=Physician view on end-of-life issues vary widely: CMA survey|url=https://www.cma.ca/Assets/assets-library/document/en/advocacy/EOL/2011-CMA-End-of-Life-Survey-Press-Release-e.pdf|access-date=16 October 2017|date=2011|archive-date=17 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017041957/https://www.cma.ca/Assets/assets-library/document/en/advocacy/EOL/2011-CMA-End-of-Life-Survey-Press-Release-e.pdf}}</ref> || Canadian Medical Association || 2,125 || {{bartable|16|%}} || {{bartable|44|%}}
|-
| Cohen, 1994 (NEJM)<ref name="cohen">{{cite journal |vauthors=Cohen JS, Fihn SD, Boyko EJ, Jonsen AR, Wood RW|title=Attitudes toward assisted suicide and euthanasia among physicians in Washington State|journal=The New England Journal of Medicine|volume=331|issue=2|pages=89–94|date=July 1994|pmid=8208272|doi=10.1056/NEJM199407143310206|doi-access=free}}</ref> || Washington state doctors || 938 || {{bartable|40|%}} || {{bartable|49|%}}
|-
| Lee, 1996 (NEJM)<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Lee MA, Nelson HD, Tilden VP, Ganzini L, Schmidt TA, Tolle SW|title=Legalizing assisted suicide—views of physicians in Oregon|journal=The New England Journal of Medicine|volume=334|issue=5|pages=310–315|date=February 1996|pmid=8532028|doi=10.1056/nejm199602013340507|doi-access=free}}</ref> || Oregon state doctors || 2,761 || {{bartable|46|%}} || {{bartable|31|%}}
|}

{| class="wikitable"
! Study || Population || Responses || colspan="2" |In favor of legalization || colspan="2" |Not in favor of legalization
|-
| Medscape Ethics Report, 2014<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Kane L|title=Medscape Ethics Report 2014, Part 1: Life, Death, and Pain|url=http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/public/ethics2014-part1#2|website=Medscape|access-date=4 October 2016|archive-date=5 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005173329/http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/public/ethics2014-part1#2|url-status=live}}</ref>|| U.S.-based doctors || || {{bartable|54|%}} || {{bartable|31|%}}
|-
| Seale, 2009<ref name="seale" /> || United Kingdom doctors || 3,733 || {{bartable|35|%}} 
|| {{bartable|62.2|%}}
|-
| Cohen, 1994 (NEJM)<ref name="cohen" />|| Washington state doctors || 938 || {{bartable|53|%}} || {{bartable|39|%}}
|}

A 2019 survey of US physicians found that 60% of physicians answered 'yes' to the question "Should PAS be legalized in your state?" The survey indicated that physicians are concerned about a possible "slippery slope." 30% agreed that "PAS/AID would lead to the legalization of euthanasia," and 46% agreed that "Health insurance companies would cover PAS/AID over more expensive, possibly life-saving treatments, like chemotherapy."<ref name="Hetzler">{{cite journal |author4-link=Lydia Dugdale|vauthors=Hetzler III PT, Nie J, Zhou A, Dugdale LS|title=A Report of Physicians' Beliefs about Physician-Assisted Suicide: A National Study|journal=The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine|volume=92|issue=4|pages=575–585|date=December 2019|pmid=31866773|pmc=6913834|doi=}}</ref> The survey also revealed that physicians generally misunderstand why patients seek PAS. 49% of physicians agreed that "most patients who seek PAS/AID do so because of physical pain," whereas studies conducted in Oregon found that "the three most frequently mentioned end-of-life concerns were loss of autonomy (89.5%), decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable (89.5%), and loss of dignity (65.4%)."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/PROVIDERPARTNERRESOURCES/EVALUATIONRESEARCH/DEATHWITHDIGNITYACT/Documents/year19.pdf|title=Oregon Death with Dignity Act Data summary|date=2016|website=oregon.gov/oha|publisher=Oregon Health Authority|access-date=12 February 2023|archive-date=14 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214225357/https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/providerpartnerresources/evaluationresearch/deathwithdignityact/documents/year19.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, the survey found that the physicians were concerned about the adequacy of safeguards. While 59% agreed that "current PAS laws provide adequate safeguards," there was greater concern surrounding specific safeguards. 60% disagreed that "physicians who are not psychiatrists are sufficiently trained to screen for depression in patients who are seeking PAS," and 60% disagreed that "most physicians can predict with certainty whether a patient seeking PAS/AID has 6 months or less to live."<ref name="Hetzler" /> The concern about adequate safeguards is even greater among Oregon emergency physicians; one study found that "only 37% indicated that the Oregon initiative has enough safeguards to protect vulnerable persons."<ref name="pmid8891040">{{cite journal |vauthors=Schmidt TA, Zechnich AD, Tilden VP, Lee MA, Ganzini L, Nelson HD, Tolle SW|title=Oregon emergency physicians' experiences with, attitudes toward, and concerns about physician-assisted suicide|journal=Academic Emergency Medicine|volume=3|issue=10|pages=938–945|date=October 1996|pmid=8891040|pmc=|doi=10.1111/j.1553-2712.1996.tb03323.x|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Attitudes toward medical aid in dying vary by health profession as well. An extensive survey of 3,733 physicians, sponsored by the National Council for Palliative Care, Age Concern, Help the Hospices, Macmillan Cancer Support, the Motor Neurone Disease Association, the MS Society and Sue Ryder Care showed that opposition to voluntary euthanasia and PAS was highest among palliative care and geriatrics, with more than 90% of palliative care specialists against changing the law.<ref name="seale" />

A 1997 study by Glasgow University's Institute of Law & Ethics in Medicine found pharmacists (72%) and anaesthetists (56%) to be generally in favor of legalizing PAS. Pharmacists were twice as likely as medical GPs to endorse the view that "if a patient has decided to end their own life, then doctors should be allowed in law to assist."<ref>{{cite book|vauthors=McLean S|title=Sometimes a Small Victory|date=1997|publisher=Institute of Law and Ethics in Medicine, University of Glasgow.}}</ref> A report published in January 2017 by NPR suggests that the thoroughness of protections that allow physicians to refrain from participating in the municipalities that legalized assisted suicide within the United States creates a lack of access by those who would otherwise be eligible for the practice.<ref>{{cite news|title=Legalizing Aid in Dying Doesn't Mean Patients Have Access To It|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/01/25/511456109/legalizing-aid-in-dying-doesnt-mean-patients-have-access-to-it|newspaper=NPR|date=25 January 2017|access-date=18 November 2017|vauthors=Aleccia J|archive-date=22 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222214623/https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/01/25/511456109/legalizing-aid-in-dying-doesnt-mean-patients-have-access-to-it|url-status=live}}</ref>

A poll in the United Kingdom showed that 54% of GPs are either supportive or neutral towards the introduction of assisted dying laws.<ref>{{cite web |title=Public Opinion – Dignity in Dying|url=https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/assisted-dying/public-opinion/|access-date=4 August 2018|archive-date=14 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514142940/https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/assisted-dying/public-opinion/|url-status=live}}</ref> A similar poll on [[Doctors.net.uk]] published in the [[British Medical Journal|BMJ]] reported  that 55% of doctors would support it.<ref>{{cite news |title=Assisted dying case 'stronger than ever' with majority of doctors now in support|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/health/assisted-dying-debate-bmj-doctors-majority-support/|access-date=4 August 2018|date=7 February 2018|archive-date=15 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190515040235/https://inews.co.uk/news/health/assisted-dying-debate-bmj-doctors-majority-support/|url-status=live}}</ref> In contrast, the BMA, which represents doctors in the UK, opposes it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Physician-assisted dying – BMA|url=https://www.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/ethics/ethics-a-to-z/physician-assisted-dying|access-date=4 August 2018|archive-date=14 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514040428/https://www.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/ethics/ethics-a-to-z/physician-assisted-dying|url-status=live}}</ref>

An anonymous, confidential postal survey of all General Practitioners in Northern Ireland, conducted in 2000, found that over 70% of responding GPs were opposed to physician-assisted suicide and voluntary active euthanasia.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=McGlade KJ, Slaney L, Bunting BP, Gallagher AG|title=Voluntary euthanasia in Northern Ireland: general practitioners' beliefs, experiences, and actions|journal=The British Journal of General Practice|volume=50|issue=459|pages=794–797|date=October 2000|pmid=11127168|pmc=1313819}}</ref>

===Public opinion on medical aid in dying===
====U.S. Polls====
A recent poll in 2024 by Gallup News found that Americans overwhelmingly supported medical aid in dying, with 71% of people "believe doctors should be allowed by law to end the patient’s life by some painless means if the patient and his or her family request it.”<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-08 |title=Most Americans Favor Legal Euthanasia |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/648215/americans-favor-legal-euthanasia.aspx |access-date=2025-11-29 |website=Gallup.com |language=en}}</ref>

A survey in 2009 from the Journal of Palliative Medicine, found that family caregivers of patients who chose assisted death were more likely to find positive meaning in caring for the patient and felt more prepared for the patient's death than the family caregivers of patients who did not request assisted death.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Ganzini L, Goy ER, Dobscha SK, Prigerson H|title=Mental health outcomes of family members of Oregonians who request physician aid in dying|journal=Journal of Pain and Symptom Management|volume=38|issue=6|pages=807–815|date=December 2009|pmid=19783401|doi=10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2009.04.026|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Organisations taking neutral positions===
There have been calls for organisations representing medical professionals to take a neutral stance on medical aid in dying, rather than a position of opposition. The reasoning is that this supposedly would better reflect the views of medical professionals and that of wider society, and prevent those bodies from exerting undue influence over the debate.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Godlee F|title=Assisted dying: it's time to poll UK doctors|journal=BMJ|date=8 February 2018|pages=k593|doi=10.1136/bmj.k593|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title='Neutrality' on assisted suicide is a step forward|url=https://www.nursingtimes.net/archive/neutrality-on-assisted-suicide-is-a-step-forward-31-07-2009/|website=Nursing Times|access-date=30 December 2018|date=31 July 2009|archive-date=6 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206030328/https://www.nursingtimes.net/archive/neutrality-on-assisted-suicide-is-a-step-forward-31-07-2009/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Gerada C|title=The case for neutrality on assisted dying – a personal view|journal=The British Journal of General Practice|volume=62|issue=605|page=650|date=December 2012|pmid=23211247|pmc=3505400|doi=10.3399/bjgp12X659376}}</ref>

The UK [[Royal College of Nursing]] voted in July 2009 to move to a neutral position on medical aid in dying.<ref>{{cite web |title=RCN Position statement on assisted dying|url=https://www.rcn.org.uk/-/media/royal-college-of-nursing/documents/policies-and-briefings/uk-wide/policies/2014/2314.pdf|website=Royal College of Nursing|access-date=30 December 2018|archive-date=9 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209042010/https://www.rcn.org.uk/-/media/royal-college-of-nursing/documents/policies-and-briefings/uk-wide/policies/2014/2314.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[California Medical Association]] dropped its long-standing opposition in 2015 during the debate over whether a medical aid in dying bill should be introduced there, prompted in part by cancer sufferer [[Brittany Maynard]].<ref>{{cite news |title=California Medical Association drops opposition to doctor-assisted suicide|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-assistedsuicide-california-idUSKBN0O52TI20150520|access-date=21 December 2018|newspaper=Reuters|date=20 May 2015|archive-date=5 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205233417/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-assistedsuicide-california-idUSKBN0O52TI20150520|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[California End of Life Option Act]] was signed into law later that year.

In December 2017, the [[Massachusetts Medical Society]] (MMS) voted to repeal their opposition to medical aid in dying and adopt a position of neutrality.<ref>{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Medical Society adopts several organizational policies at Interim Meeting|url=http://www.massmed.org/News-and-Publications/MMS-News-Releases/Massachusetts-Medical-Society-adopts-several-organizational-policies-at-Interim-Meeting/|website=Massachusetts Medical Society|access-date=17 October 2018|archive-date=5 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205233653/https://www.massmed.org/News-and-Publications/MMS-News-Releases/Massachusetts-Medical-Society-adopts-several-organizational-policies-at-Interim-Meeting/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In October 2018, the [[American Academy of Family Physicians]] (AAFP) voted to adopt a position of neutrality from one of opposition. This is contrary to the position taken by the [[American Medical Association]] (AMA), which opposes it.<ref>{{cite web |title=COD Addresses Medical Aid in Dying, Institutional Racism|url=https://www.aafp.org/news/2018-congress-fmx/20181010cod-hops.html|website=AAFP|access-date=17 October 2018|archive-date=6 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206012944/https://www.aafp.org/news/2018-congress-fmx/20181010cod-hops.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In January 2019 the British [[Royal College of Physicians]] announced it would adopt a position of neutrality until two-thirds of its members think it should either support or oppose the legalization of medical aid in dying.<ref>{{cite news |title=Doctors to be asked if they would help terminally ill patients die|url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/health/doctors-asked-would-help-terminally-15670817|access-date=14 January 2019|publisher=Chronicle Live|archive-date=5 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205233434/https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/health/doctors-asked-would-help-terminally-15670817|url-status=live}}</ref>

In September 2021, the largest doctors union in the United Kingdom, the [[British Medical Association]], adopted a neutral stance towards a change in the law on assisted dying, replacing their position of opposition which had been in place since 2006.<ref>{{cite news |title=BMA drops opposition to assisted dying and adopts neutral stance|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/sep/14/bma-drops-opposition-assisted-dying-adopts-neutral-stance|access-date=15 February 2023}}</ref>

=== Organisations active in assisted suicide ===
* [[Death with Dignity National Center]] is a nonprofit US organisation active in end of life advocacy and policy reform. The organization has been advocating for physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia since 1994.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About {{!}} Death With Dignity|url=https://deathwithdignity.org/about/|access-date=23 February 2023|language=en-US|archive-date=23 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223022840/https://deathwithdignity.org/about/|url-status=live}}</ref> 
* [[Compassion & Choices]] is a nonprofit US organisation active in end of life and other care issues.
* [[Care Not Killing]] is a UK organisation opposed to euthanasia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.carenotkilling.org.uk/|title=Care Not Killing - Promoting care, Opposing euthanasia|website=Care Not Killing - carenotkilling.org.uk}}</ref>

===Religious stances===
====Religions in favor====
===== Unitarian Universalism =====
According to a 1988 General Resolution, "[[Unitarian Universalist]]s advocate the right to self-determination in dying, and the release from civil or criminal penalties of those who, under proper safeguards, act to honor the right of terminally ill patients to select the time of their own deaths".<ref>{{cite web|title=The Right to Die with Dignity: 1988 General Resolution|url=http://www.uua.org/statements/right-die-dignity|website=Unitarian Universalist Association|access-date=4 October 2016|date=24 August 2011|archive-date=23 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423193952/http://www.uua.org/statements/right-die-dignity|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Religions in opposition====
===== Catholicism =====
The [[Catholic Church]] acknowledges the fact that moral decisions regarding a person's life must be made according to one's own conscience and faith.<ref name="pmid11655313">{{cite journal |vauthors=Donovan GK|title=Decisions at the end of life: Catholic tradition|journal=Christian Bioethics|volume=3|issue=3|pages=188–203|date=December 1997|pmid=11655313|doi=10.1093/cb/3.3.188}}</ref> Catholic tradition has said that one's concern for the suffering of another is not a sufficient reason to decide whether it is appropriate to act upon voluntary euthanasia. According to the [[Catechism of the Catholic Church]], "God is the creator and author of all life." In this belief system God created human life, therefore God is the judge of when to end life.<ref name="pmid11655313" /> From the Catholic Church's perspective, deliberately ending one's life or the life of another is morally wrong and defies the Catholic doctrine. Furthermore, ending one's life deprives that person and his or her loved ones of the time left in life and causes grief and sorrow for those left behind.<ref name="Harvey2016">{{cite journal |vauthors=Harvey K|title=Mercy and Physician-Assisted Suicide|journal=Ethics & Medics|year=2016|volume=41|issue=6|pages=1–2|doi=10.5840/em201641611}}</ref>

[[Pope Francis]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/people/pope-francis-21152349|title=Pope Francis Biography|date=20 April 2021|access-date=7 December 2016|archive-date=3 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403101052/https://www.biography.com/people/pope-francis-21152349|url-status=live}}</ref>  affirmed that death is a glorious event and should not be decided for by anyone other than God. Pope Francis insinuates that defending life means defending its sacredness.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Cherry MJ|title=Pope Francis, Weak Theology, and the Subtle Transformation of Roman Catholic Bioethics|journal=Christian Bioethics|date=6 February 2015|volume=21|issue=1|pages=84–88|doi=10.1093/cb/cbu045}}</ref> The Catholic Church teaches its followers that the act of euthanasia is unacceptable because it is perceived as a sin, as it goes against one of the Ten Commandments. As implied by the [[Ten Commandments in Catholic theology#Fifth commandment|fifth commandment]], "Thou shalt not kill (You shall not kill)", the act of assisted suicide contradicts the dignity of human life as well as the respect one has for God.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism|title=Roman Catholicism|newspaper=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=7 December 2016|archive-date=17 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417093924/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-Catholicism|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Harvey2016" /> Additionally, the Catholic Church recommends that terminally ill patients should receive palliative care, which deals with physical pain while treating psychological and spiritual suffering as well, instead of physician-assisted suicide.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Yao T|title=Can We Limit a Right to Physician-Assisted Suicide?|journal=The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly|date=2016|volume=16|issue=3|pages=385–392|doi=10.5840/ncbq201616336}}</ref>

===== Hinduism =====
In Hinduism, suicide is viewed as a serious act because it conflicts with core principles like [[dharma]] (duty), [[karma in Hinduism|karma]] (actions and their consequences), and [[ahimsa]] (non-violence).<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC - Religions - Hinduism: Euthanasia, assisted dying and Suicide|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/hinduethics/euthanasia.shtml|access-date=2024-12-01|website=www.bbc.co.uk|language=en-GB}}</ref> While there is no definitive teaching on suicide and assisted suicide within Hinduism, prematurely ending one's life or assisting in such an act can adversely affect the karma of both the person who dies and the one who aids in the act. Deepak Sarma, a professor of South Asian religions and philosophy at [[Case Western Reserve University]] in [[Cleveland]], explains, "If you circumvent karma by taking some action to stop suffering, you will pay for it later.".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Liu|first=Joseph|date=2013-11-21|title=Religious Groups' Views on End-of-Life Issues|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2013/11/21/religious-groups-views-on-end-of-life-issues/|access-date=2024-12-17|website=Pew Research Center|language=en-US}}</ref> Hinduism upholds the principle of "''Ahimsa Paramo Dharma''", meaning "Ahimsa (non-violence) is the highest form of dharma (virtue)".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Mahabharata in Sanskrit: Book 13: Chapter 117|url=https://sacred-texts.com/hin/mbs/mbs13117.htm|access-date=2024-12-17|website=sacred-texts.com}}</ref>  Although, Hindus are not meant to be indifferent to the sufferings of others. One should avoid committing acts of violence in thought, word, or deed against any living creature. Therefore, the practice of euthanasia would be seen as breaching the teachings of ahimsa.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nimbalkar|first=Namita|date=2007|title=Euthanasia: The Hindu Perspective|url=https://vpmthane.org/Publications/Bio-Ethics/Namita%20Nimbalkar.pdf|journal=Vpmthane}}</ref>

===== Judaism =====
While preservation of life is one of the greatest values in Judaism, there are instances of suicide and assisted suicide appearing in the Bible and [[Rabbinic literature]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Samuel 1:31:4–5, Daat Zekeinim Baalei Hatosfot Genesis 9:5}}</ref> The medieval authorities debate the legitimacy of those measures and in what limited circumstances they might apply. The conclusion of the majority of later rabbinic authorities, and accepted normative practice within Judaism, is that suicide and assisted suicide can not be sanctioned even for a terminal patient in intractable pain.<ref>{{cite book|vauthors=Steinberg A|title=Encyclopedia Hilchatit Refuit|date=1988|publisher=Shaarei Zedek Hospital|location=Jerusalem|volume=1|page=15}}</ref>

===== The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints =====
[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) is against assisted suicide and euthanasia, and anyone who takes part in either is regarded as having violated the commandments of God.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/handbook-2-administering-the-church/selected-church-policies-and-guidelines/selected-church-policies|title=Handbook 2: Administering the Church – 21.3 Medical and Health Policies|publisher=Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|access-date=15 July 2019|archive-date=21 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021203917/https://www.lds.org/handbook/handbook-2-administering-the-church/selected-church-policies|url-status=live}}</ref> However the church recognizes that when a person is in the final stages of terminal illness there may be difficult decisions to be taken. The church states that "When dying becomes inevitable, death should be looked upon as a blessing and a purposeful part of an eternal existence. Members should not feel obligated to extend mortal life by means that are unreasonable".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/official-statement/euthanasia-and-prolonging-life|title=Euthanasia and Prolonging Life|work=LDS News|access-date=18 July 2019|archive-date=27 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627231146/https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/official-statement/euthanasia-and-prolonging-life|url-status=live}}</ref>

===== Islam =====
According to the Islamic approach, a Muslim doctor should not intervene directly to voluntarily take the life of the patient, not even out of pity (Islamic Code of Medical Ethics, Kuwait 1981); he must see whether the patient is curable or not, not whether he must continue to live. Similarly, he must not administer drugs that accelerate death, even after an explicit request by relatives; acceleration of this kind would correspond to murder. Quran 3.145 states: "Nor can a soul die except by God's leave, the term being fixed as by writing"; Quran 3.156 continues "It is God that gives Life and Death, and God sees well all that ye do", resulting that God has fixed the length of each life, but leaves room for human efforts to save it when some hope exists. The patient's request for his life to be ended has in part been evaluated by juridical doctrine in some aspects. The four "canonical" Sunnite juridical schools ([[Hanafi school|Hanafis]], [[Maliki school|Malikis]], [[Shafi'i school|Shafi'is]] and [[Hanbali school|Hanbalis]]) were not unanimous in their pronouncements. For all, the request or permission to be killed does not make the action, which remains a murder, lawful; however, the disagreement concerns the possibility of applying punishments to those that cause death: the Hanafis are in favour; the Hanbalis, the Shafi'is and the Malikis are partly in favour and partly contrary to penal sanctions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nohra|first=Fouad|date=1 December 2014|title=Pouvoir politique, droits fondamentaux et droit à la révolte: la doctrine religieuse face aux processus révolutionnaires dans le monde arabe|url=http://journals.openedition.org/revdh/922|journal=Revue des droits de l'homme|issue=6|doi=10.4000/revdh.922|issn=2264-119X|doi-access=free|access-date=13 October 2023|archive-date=6 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006041230/http://journals.openedition.org/revdh/922|url-status=live}}</ref>

In June 1995 the Muslim Medical Doctors Conference in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) reasserted that euthanasia (not better defined) goes against the principles of Islam; this is also valid in the military context, prohibiting a seriously wounded soldier from committing suicide or asking other soldiers to kill him out of pity or to avoid falling into enemy hands.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gurcum|first1=Banu Hatice|last2=Ozcan|first2=Nazan|title=Searching for Form in Textile Art with Traditional Cit Weaving|date=31 August 2016|journal=Idil Journal of Art and Language|volume=5|issue=24|doi=10.7816/idil-05-24-10|issn=2146-9903|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Statistics on medical aid in dying programs==
===Statistics by leading countries===
Countries with the highest levels of assisted dying, as of 2021 data, are
*Canada: 10,064
*Netherlands: 7,666
*Belgium: 2,699
*US: 1,300+<ref name="auto4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/canada-assisted-dying-law-wm7zfnpqv|title='It's social murder' — is Canada's assisted dying a model or a warning?|first=Josie Ensor|last=Montreal|date=16 October 2024|website=www.thetimes.com}}</ref>

In Canada, assisted deaths of 13,241 in 2022 made up more than 4% of all deaths.<ref name="auto4"/>

In the Netherlands deaths by euthanasia in 2023 were 9,068, an increase of 4% on 2022. These deaths were 5% of all deaths.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/assisted-dying-law-countries-hv6cjcrgz|title=Where is assisted dying legal? How the rules worldwide compare|first1=Bruno|last1=Waterfield|first2=Josie|last2=Ensor|first3=Bernard|last3=Lagan|date=16 October 2024|website=www.thetimes.com}}</ref>

In California 853 assisted deaths were recorded in 2022.<ref name="auto4"/>

===Oregon===
In the Oregon program 2,454 deaths had occurred from 2001 to 2022.

During 2022, 431 people (384 in 2021) received prescriptions for lethal doses of medications under the provisions of the Oregon DWDA, and at January 20, 2023, OHA had received reports of 278 of these people (255 in 2021) dying through ingesting those medications. 85% were aged 65 years or older, and 96% were white. The most common underlying illnesses were cancer (64%), heart disease (12%) and neurological disease (10%). 92% died at home. (See the arguments section above for reasons for using the program, and the methods section above for further information.)<ref name="auto3"/>

In February 2016, Oregon released a report on its 2015 numbers. In 2015, there were 218 people in the state who were approved and received the lethal drugs to end their own life. Of that 218, 125 have been confirmed to have ultimately decided to ingest drugs, resulting in their death. 50 did not ingest medication and died from other means, while the ingestion status of the remaining 43 is unknown. According to the state of Oregon Public Health Division's survey, the majority of the participants, 78%, were 65 years of age or older and predominantly white, 93.1%. 72% of the terminally ill patients who opted for ending their own lives had been diagnosed with some form of cancer. In the state of Oregon's 2015 survey, they asked the terminally ill who were participating in medical aid in dying, what their biggest end-of-life concerns were: 96.2% of those people mentioned the loss of the ability to participate in activities that once made them enjoy life, 92.4% mentioned the loss of autonomy, or the independence of their own thoughts or actions, and 75.4% stated loss of their dignity.<ref>{{cite web |title=OREGON DEATH WITH DIGNITY ACT: 2015 DATA SUMMARY |url=https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Documents/year18.pdf |website=State of Oregon |publisher=Oregon Public Health Division |access-date=29 April 2019 |archive-date=13 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513040353/https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Documents/year18.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

A 2015 [[Journal of Palliative Medicine]] report on patterns of hospice use noted that Oregon was in both the highest quartile of hospice use and the lowest quartile of potentially concerning patterns of hospice use. A similar trend was found in Vermont, where aid-in-dying (AiD) was authorized in 2013.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Wang SY, Aldridge MD, Gross CP, Canavan M, Cherlin E, Johnson-Hurzeler R, Bradley E | title = Geographic Variation of Hospice Use Patterns at the End of Life | journal = Journal of Palliative Medicine | volume = 18 | issue = 9 | pages = 771–780 | date = September 2015 | pmid = 26172615 | pmc = 4696438 | doi = 10.1089/jpm.2014.0425 }}</ref>

A 2002 study of hospice nurses and social workers in Oregon reported that symptoms of pain, depression, anxiety, extreme air hunger and fear of the process of dying were more pronounced among hospice patients who did not request a lethal prescription for [[barbiturate]]s, the drug used for physician-assisted death.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ganzini L, Harvath TA, Jackson A, Goy ER, Miller LL, Delorit MA | title = Experiences of Oregon nurses and social workers with hospice patients who requested assistance with suicide | journal = The New England Journal of Medicine | volume = 347 | issue = 8 | pages = 582–588 | date = August 2002 | pmid = 12192019 | doi = 10.1056/NEJMsa020562 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

===Washington State===
An increasing trend in deaths caused by ingesting lethal doses of medications prescribed by physicians was also noted in Washington: from 64 deaths in 2009 to 202 deaths in 2015.<ref name="ReferenceA">Washington State Department of Health</ref> Among the deceased, 72% had terminal cancer and 8% had neurodegenerative diseases (including ALS).<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

==Publicized cases==
In 2006, British doctor Anne Turner took her own life in a Zurich clinic having developed an incurable degenerative disease. Her story was reported by the BBC and later, in 2009, made into a TV film ''[[A Short Stay in Switzerland]]'' starring [[Julie Walters]].

In 2009, British conductor Sir [[Edward Downes]] and his wife Joan died together at a suicide clinic outside Zürich "under circumstances of their own choosing". Sir Edward was not terminally ill, but his wife was diagnosed with rapidly developing cancer.<ref name="CB1">{{cite web |url=http://criminalbrief.com/?p=7887 |title=YOUthanasia |vauthors=Lundin L |date=2 August 2009 |publisher=Criminal Brief |access-date=9 July 2013 |archive-date=26 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726065607/http://criminalbrief.com/?p=7887 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2010, the American PBS TV program ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline]]'' showed a documentary called ''The Suicide Tourist'' which told the story of Professor Craig Ewert, his family, and [[Dignitas (euthanasia group)|Dignitas]], and his decision to die by assisted suicide using [[Pentobarbital|sodium pentobarbital]] in Switzerland after he was diagnosed and suffering with [[Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis|ALS]] (Lou Gehrig's disease).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/suicidetourist/|title=The Suicide Tourist – FRONTLINE – PBS|work=pbs.org|access-date=24 August 2017|archive-date=23 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423210547/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/suicidetourist/?utm_campaign=homepage&utm_medium=proglist&utm_source=proglist|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2011, the BBC televised the assisted suicide of Peter Smedley, a canning factory owner, who was suffering from motor neurone disease. The programme – ''[[Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die]]'' – told the story of Smedley's journey to the end where he used The Dignitas Clinic, a voluntary euthanasia clinic in Switzerland, to assist him in carrying out his suicide. The programme shows Smedley eating chocolates to counter the unpalatable taste of the liquid he drinks to end his life. Moments after drinking the liquid, Smedley begged for water, gasped for breath and became red, he then fell into a deep sleep where he snored heavily while holding his wife's hand. Minutes later, Smedley stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating.

In 2022 in Colombia Victor Escobar became the first person with a non-terminal illness to die by legally regulated euthanasia. The 60-year-old Escobar had end-stage [[chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]].<ref name="Escobar">{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/americas/colombia-euthanasia-intl/index.html |title=Man becomes first person in Colombia with non-terminal illness to die by legal euthanasia |date=9 January 2022 |publisher=CNN.com |access-date=9 January 2022 |archive-date=10 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110092121/https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/09/americas/colombia-euthanasia-intl/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2025 Wayne Hawkins in California invited the [[BBC]] to be present at his assisted suicide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8rgd4yrz3eo|title=Assisted dying: California man invites BBC to witness his death|date=2 April 2025|website=BBC News}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Bioethics]]
* [[Betty and George Coumbias]]
* [[Capital punishment]]
* [[Consensual homicide]]
* [[Euthanasia device]]
* [[Jack Kevorkian]]
* [[Legality of euthanasia]]
* [[List of deaths from legal euthanasia and assisted suicide]]
* [[Brittany Maynard]]
* [[Organ donation after medical assistance in dying]]
* [[Philip Nitschke]]
* ''[[Right to Die?]]'' (2008 film)
* [[Senicide]]
* ''[[A Short Stay in Switzerland]]'' (2009 film)
* [[Suicide by cop]]
* [[Suicide legislation]]
* [[You Don't Know Jack (film)|''You Don't Know Jack'']] (2010 film)
* ''[[The Chalice of Courage]]'' (1915 film)
{{Div col end}}

== Explanatory notes ==
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== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
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{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Asch DA, DeKay ML | title = Euthanasia among US critical care nurses. Practices, attitudes, and social and professional correlates | journal = Medical Care | volume = 35 | issue = 9 | pages = 890–900 | date = September 1997 | pmid = 9298078 | doi = 10.1097/00005650-199709000-00002 | jstor = 3767454 }}
* {{Cite magazine |vauthors=Aviv R |date=22 June 2015 |title=Letter from Belgium: Who Has the Right to a Dignified Death?: The Death Treatment |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/22/the-death-treatment |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=10 July 2015 |archive-date=10 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210131335/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/22/the-death-treatment |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite magazine |vauthors=Henig RM |author-link=Robin Marantz Henig |date=17 May 2015 |title=The Last Day of Her Life |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/magazine/the-last-day-of-her-life.html |magazine=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |access-date=24 February 2017 |archive-date=31 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031035358/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/magazine/the-last-day-of-her-life.html |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite book | vauthors = McDougall JF, Gorman M | year = 2008 | title = Contemporary World Issues: Euthanasia | location = Santa Barbara, Calif. | publisher = ABC-CLIO  }}
* {{Cite web |title=What Is Physician-Assisted Suicide? |url=http://endlink.lurie.northwestern.edu/physician_assisted_suicide_debate/what.cfm |publisher=Northwestern University |date=17 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060711080201/http://endlink.lurie.northwestern.edu/physician_assisted_suicide_debate/what.cfm |archive-date=11 July 2006 |access-date=30 July 2014 }}
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