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{{Short description|Suicide undertaken with aid from another person}}
{{Other uses|Assisted dying (disambiguation)}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=February
{{Suicide sidebar}}
[[File:Legality of assisted suicide.svg|thumb|350px|right|Current status of assisted suicide around the world:
{{Legend|#0000ffff|Physician-assisted suicide is legal.}}
{{Legend|#00b4ffff|Legalized by court ruling, but not legislated or regulated}}
{{Legend|#C0C0C0|Physician-assisted suicide is illegal.}}
]]
{{homicide}}
'''Assisted suicide'''
In some jurisdictions, helping a person die is illegal. People who support legalizing physician-assisted suicide want the people who assist in a voluntary death to be exempt from criminal prosecution for [[manslaughter]] or similar crimes. Physician-assisted suicide is legal in some countries, under certain circumstances, including [[Austria]], [[Belgium]], [[Assisted suicide in Canada|Canada]], [[Germany]], [[Luxembourg]], the [[Netherlands]], [[New Zealand]], [[Portugal]], [[Spain]], [[Switzerland]], [[Assisted suicide in the United States|parts of the United States]] and all six states of [[Euthanasia in Australia|Australia]]. The constitutional courts of [[Colombia]], Germany and Italy have legalized assisted suicide, but their governments have not yet legislated or regulated the practice
In most of those states or countries, to qualify for legal assistance, individuals who seek a physician-assisted suicide must meet certain criteria, including:
==Terminology==
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''Suicide'' is the act of killing oneself. ''Assisted suicide'' is when another person materially helps an individual person die by suicide, such as providing tools or equipment, while ''physician-assisted suicide'' involves a physician (doctor) "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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://policybase.cma.ca/dbtw-wpd/Policypdf/PD07-01.pdf|title=EUTHANASIA AND ASSISTED SUICIDE (UPDATE 2007)|year=2007|publisher=Canadian Medical Association|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111219230512/http://policybase.cma.ca/dbtw-wpd/Policypdf/PD07-01.pdf|archive-date=19 December 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Assisted suicide is contrasted to ''[[euthanasia]]'', sometimes referred to as ''mercy killing'', where the person dying does not directly bring about their own death, but is killed in order to stop the person from experiencing further suffering. Euthanasia can occur with or without [[Consent (criminal law)|consent]], and can be classified as voluntary, non-voluntary or involuntary. Killing a person who is suffering and who consents is called ''[[voluntary euthanasia]]''. This is currently [[Legality of euthanasia|legal in some regions]].<ref>{{cite web |title=What are euthanasia and assisted suicide? |url=https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/182951 |website=Medical News Today |date=17 December 2018 |access-date=12 May 2020 |archive-date=27 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527153903/https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/182951 |url-status=live }}</ref> If the person is unable to provide consent it is referred to as ''[[non-voluntary euthanasia]]''. Killing a person who does not want to die, or who is capable of giving consent and whose consent has not been solicited, is the crime of ''[[involuntary euthanasia]]'', and is regarded as murder.
''[[Right to die]]'' is the belief that people have a right to die, either through various forms of suicide, euthanasia, or refusing life-saving medical treatment.
''Suicidism'' can be defined as "the quality or state of being suicidal"<ref>{{Cite web|title=Suicidism|url=http://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/Suicidism|access-date=30 December 2020|website=Webster's 1913 Dictionary|archive-date=13 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613055800/http://webster-dictionary.org/definition/Suicidism|url-status=live}}</ref> or as "... an oppressive system (stemming from non-suicidal perspectives) functioning at the normative, discursive, medical, legal, social, political, economic, and epistemic levels in which suicidal people experience multiple forms of injustice and violence..."<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|
===Assisted dying versus assisted suicide===
Some advocates for assisted suicide strongly oppose the use of "assisted suicide" and "suicide" when referring to physician-assisted suicide, and prefer phrases like "medical aid in dying" (MAiD) or "assisted dying
==Physician-assisted suicide==
===Support===
====Arguments for====
Arguments in support of assisted death include respect for patient autonomy, equal treatment of terminally ill patients on and off life support, compassion, personal liberty, transparency<ref>{{cite web |
Death With Dignity is coined as the United States national leader in end of life advocacy and policy reform. The organization has been advocating for physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia since 1994.
Pain is mostly not reported as the primary motivation for seeking physician-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> 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%).<ref>{{cite web|title=OREGON DEATH WITH DIGNITY 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>
=====Oregon statistics=====
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A 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>
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,
=====Washington State statistics=====
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=====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>
===Opposition===
====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 |
=====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 contains, "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=====
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{{Main|Euthanasia and the slippery slope}}
A concern present among health care professionals who are opposed to PAS, are the detrimental effects that the procedure can have with regard to vulnerable populations. This argument is known as the "[[slippery slope]]".<ref>{{cite web
====Religious stances in opposition ====
=====Catholicism=====
The
[[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> is the current dominant figure of the Catholic Church. He affirms 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
=====Judaism=====
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=====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=
=====Islam=====
According to a rigid approach, the 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.
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.
===Neutrality===
There have been calls for organisations representing medical professionals to take a neutral stance on PAS, 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 | pages = 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 PAS.<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 Physician Assisted Suicide 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 physician-assisted suicide 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 PAS.<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>
==== American Medical Association Code of Ethics ====
The American Medical Association (AMA) opposes physician-assisted suicide. In response to the ongoing debate about PAS, the AMA has issued guidance for both those who support and oppose physician-assisted suicide. The AMA Code of Ethics Opinion 5.7 reads 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. In the AMA Code of Ethics Opinion 1.1.7, which the AMA states "articulates the thoughtful moral basis for those who support assisted suicide", it is written 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>
===Attitudes of healthcare professionals===
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| 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 (n=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 (n=2,761)|| {{bartable|46|%}} || {{bartable|31|%}}
|}
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! Study || Population || colspan="2"|In favor of PAS being legal || colspan="2"|Not in favor of PAS being legal
|-
| Medscape Ethics Report, 2014<ref>{{cite web|
|-
| Seale, 2009<ref name="seale" /> || United Kingdom
|| {{bartable|62.2|%}} |-
| Cohen, 1994 (NEJM)<ref name="cohen" />|| Washington state doctors (n=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?"
Attitudes toward PAS vary by health profession as well; an extensive survey of
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 presently 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|
A poll in the United Kingdom showed that 54% of General Practitioners 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]] said 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 the year 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>
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==Legality==
[[File:Legality of assisted suicide.svg|thumb|350px|right|Current status of assisted suicide around the world:
{{Legend|#0000ffff|Physician-assisted suicide is legal.{{refn|group=note|name=PortugalNote}}}}
{{Legend|#00b4ffff|Legalized by court ruling, but not legislated or regulated}}
{{Legend|#C0C0C0|Physician-assisted suicide is illegal.}}
]]
Physician-assisted suicide is legal in some countries, under certain circumstances, including [[Austria]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vfgh.gv.at/downloads/VfGH-Erkenntnis_G_139_2019_vom_11.12.2020.pdf |title=G 139/2019-71. 11. Dezember 2020 |publisher=[[Constitutional Court (Austria)|Verfassungsgerichtshof]] |language=de |date=11 December 2020 |access-date=16 October 2022 |archive-date=29 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229195403/https://www.vfgh.gv.at/downloads/VfGH-Erkenntnis_G_139_2019_vom_11.12.2020.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.parlament.gv.at/PAKT/VHG/XXVII/I/I_01177/index.shtml |title=Sterbeverfügungsgesetz; Suchtmittelgesetz, Strafgesetzbuch, Änderung |website=parlament.gv.at |language=de |access-date=16 October 2022 |archive-date=17 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217105637/https://www.parlament.gv.at/PAKT/VHG/XXVII/I/I_01177/index.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Belgium]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/mopdf/2002/06/22_1.pdf#Page16 |title=28 MEI 2002. — Wet betreffende de euthanasie / 28 MAI 2002. — Loi relative a' l'euthanasie |publisher=Belgisch Staatsblad / Moniteur Belge |language=nl, fr |page=16 |date=22 June 2002 |access-date=16 October 2022 |archive-date=19 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119023616/http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/mopdf/2002/06/22_1.pdf#Page16 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Assisted suicide in Canada|Canada]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/BillDetails.aspx?billId=8177165 |title=Bill C-14. An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to make related amendments to other Acts (medical assistance in dying |website=parl.ca |access-date=16 October 2022 |archive-date=23 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523221238/https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/BillDetails.aspx?billId=8177165 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Luxembourg]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://data.legilux.public.lu/file/eli-etat-leg-memorial-2009-46-fr-pdf.pdf |title=Legislation reglementant les soins palliatifs ainsi que l'euthanasie et l'assistance au suicide |publisher=Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg |language=fr |date=16 March 2009 |access-date=16 October 2022 |archive-date=24 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924200410/http://data.legilux.public.lu/file/eli-etat-leg-memorial-2009-46-fr-pdf.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Netherlands]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0012410/2020-03-19 |title=Wet toetsing levensbeëindiging op verzoek en hulp bij zelfdoding |website=overheid.nl |language=nl |access-date=16 October 2022 |archive-date=17 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217202942/https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0012410/2020-03-19 |url-status=live }}</ref> New Zealand,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/regulation-health-and-disability-system/end-life-choice-act |title=End of Life Choice Act |website=health.govt.nz |access-date=16 October 2022 |archive-date=27 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627165246/https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/regulation-health-and-disability-system/end-life-choice-act |url-status=live }}</ref> Portugal,<ref name="diariodarepublica.pt">[https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/lei/22-2023-213498831 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>{{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"/> 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.}} Spain,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2021-4628 |title=Ley Orgánica 3/2021, de 24 de marzo, de regulación de la eutanasia |website=boe.es |language=es |date=25 March 2021 |pages=34037–34049 |access-date=16 October 2022 |archive-date=5 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210705024012/https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2021-4628 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Switzerland]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/54/757_781_799/en |title=Swiss Criminal Code |website=fedlex.admin.ch |access-date=16 October 2022 |archive-date=9 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409224255/https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/54/757_781_799/en |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Assisted suicide in the United States|parts of the United States]] (California,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHSI/Pages/End-of-Life-Option-Act-.aspx |title=End of Life Option Act |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=26 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226154032/https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CHSI/Pages/End-of-Life-Option-Act-.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Colorado]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cdphe.colorado.gov/center-for-health-and-environmental-data/registries-and-vital-statistics/medical-aid-in-dying |title=
===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"/> 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 |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=
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|350px|right|Current status of assisted suicide in Europe:
{{Legend|#0000ffff|Physician-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=
===Belgium===
Line 189 ⟶ 191:
{{Main|Assisted suicide 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=http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/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=
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
===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|url-status=dead}}</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 |
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" />
Line 202 ⟶ 204:
===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 =
====Publicized cases====
In January 2022 Victor Escobar became the first person in the Andean country 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>
===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===
Line 218 ⟶ 220:
| 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
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}}</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. April 6, 2023.Overcoming impediments to medically assisted dying: A signal for another approach? Journal of Medical Ethics Forum. Accessed September 14, 2023. https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/2023/04/06/overcoming-impediments-to-medically-assisted-dying-a-signal-for-another-approach/?fbclid=IwAR1ab-7KUtW34rZlaD2YcYzZCD14GVCQ9W-2wwd7FKmZJtaG5PKpZM5GUq4</ref>▼
| 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 |
====Travel to Switzerland====
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, 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
====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===
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===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 ===
On 25 September 2019, the [[Constitutional Court of Italy|Italian Constitutional Court]] ruling 242/2019 declared that article 580 of the criminal code was unconstitutional; the decriminalisation of assisted suicide in the case of those who aid people who suffer from an irreversible pathology to die, effectively legalised assisted suicide.<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> The [[Italian Parliament]] has not yet passed a law regulating assisted suicide. 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 |
===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>States Assembly: P.95/2021, https://statesassembly.gov.je/Pages/Propositions.aspx?ref=P.95/2021&refurl=%2fPages%2fPropositions.aspx {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125102746/https://statesassembly.gov.je/Pages/Propositions.aspx?ref=P.95%2F2021&refurl=%2FPages%2FPropositions.aspx |date=25 November 2021 }}</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 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
===Netherlands===
{{Main|Euthanasia in the Netherlands}}
The Netherlands was the first country in the world to formally legalise 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=The 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 of 2001 which 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.
===New Zealand===
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===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"/>
===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" />
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=
===Switzerland===
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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| url-status=dead}} (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| pages=Article 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 =
A person who, for decent reasons, especially compassion, kills a person on the basis of his or her 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|url-status=dead}}</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
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>
====Publicized cases====
In January 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 July 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 |
In March 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 June 2011, the BBC televised the assisted suicide of Peter Smedley, a canning factory owner, who was suffering from motor neurone disease. The programme – ''
===Uruguay===
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====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=
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|url-status=dead}}</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
====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.
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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 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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"/>
It was legalized by [[Washington (state)]] in 2008,<ref>[[Washington Death with Dignity Act]]</ref> Vermont in 2013,<ref>Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act of 2013</ref> California<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|
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 healthy, to get approval from multiple doctors, and to affirm the request multiple times.
The punishment for participating in physician-assisted death varies throughout the other states. The state of Wyoming does not "recognize common law crimes and does not have a statute specifically prohibiting physician-assisted suicide". 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>
== See also ==
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* [[Brittany Maynard]]
* [[Philip Nitschke]]
* [[Promortalism]]
* ''[[Right to Die?]]'' (2008 film)
* [[Senicide]]
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* [[Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Victoria)]]
* [[You Don't Know Jack (film)|''You Don't Know Jack'' (2010, film)]]
* ''[[The Chalice of Courage]]''
{{Div col end}}
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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 |
* {{Cite magazine |
* {{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 |url-status=dead |access-date=30 July 2014 }}
{{refend}}
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