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Assisted suicide

Publication

  • October 2024

Campaigners for assisted suicide are stepping up their efforts. There are legislative proposals at both Westminster and Holyrood to enable terminally ill adults to get help to kill themselves.

References

References

  1. 1 See Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2023 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, March 2024, page 14. Figures from previous years calculated from annual reports since 2013
  2. 2 Oral evidence: Assisted dying/assisted suicide: House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, 27 June 2023, HC 711, Q200
  3. 3 The Sunday Telegraph, 25 April 2021
  4. 4 Right to Life, 10 October 2024, see https://righttolife.org.uk/news/devalued-to-death-activists-with-disabilities-share-fears-about-assisted-suicide-bill as at 30 October 2024
  5. 5 Regionale Toetsingscommissies Euthanasie: Jaarverslag 2023, April 2024, page 16; Regional euthanasia review committees: Annual Report 2013, September 2014, page 9
  6. 6 Regionale Toetsingscommissies Euthanasie: Jaarverslag 2023, April 2024, page 16
  7. 7 NL Times, 8 November 2023, see https://nltimes.nl/2023/11/08/widespread-public-support-assisted-suicide-end-completed-life as at 30 October 2024
  8. 8 ‘Late Termination of Pregnancy Commission Category 1 (LZA1)’, Dutch Society for Obstetrics and Gynaecology, see https://www.nvog.nl/themas/kwaliteit/commissies/commissie-late-zwangerschapsafbreking-categorie-1-lza1/ as at 30 October 2024
  9. 9 Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2021 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, February 2022, page 14
  10. 10 Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2023 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, March 2024, page 3; Oregon Death with Dignity Act – 2013, Oregon Public Health Division
  11. 11 Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2023 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, March 2024, page 9
  12. 12 Ibid, page 12
  13. 13 ‘Eligibility for medical assistance in dying for persons suffering solely from mental illness extended to March 17, 2024’, Government of Canada, 9 March 2023, see https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2023/03/eligibility-for-medical-assistance-in-dying-for-persons-suffering-solely-from-mental-illness-extended-to-march-17-2024.html as at 30 October 2024
  14. 14 ‘New medical assistance in dying legislation becomes law’, Government of Canada, 17 March 2021, see https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2021/03/new-medical-assistance-in-dying-legislation-becomes-law.html as at 30 October 2024; ‘Legislative Background: Bill C-7: Government of Canada’s Legislative Response to the Superior Court of Québec Truchon Decision’, Government of Canada, 1 September 2023, see https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/pl/ad-am/c7/p1.html#intro as at 30 October 2024
  15. 15 Regionale Toetsingscommissies Euthanasie: Jaarverslag 2023, April 2024, page 16; Regional Euthanasia Review Committees: Annual Report 2002, page 11
  16. 16 Fourth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2022, Health Canada, October 2023, page 20
  17. 17 Federal Commission for the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia, Press Release, Euthanasia – Figures for 2023, 27 February 2024; Sixième rapport aux Chambres législatives (2012-13), Commission Fédérale de Contrôle et d’Evaluation de l’Euthanasie, January 2015, page 7
  18. 18 Kantar, BMA Survey on Physician-Assisted Dying, October 2020
  19. 19 The Mail on Sunday, 23 June 2024
  20. 20 The Times, 6 November 2020
  21. 21 Fourth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2022, Health Canada, October 2023, pages 20-21
  22. 22 AP News, 11 August 2022, see https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-toronto-7c631558a457188d2bd2b5cfd360a867 as at 30 October 2024
  23. 23 Toronto Star online, 18 November 2022, see https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/we-re-all-implicated-in-michael-fraser-s-decision-to-die/article_a1b6e5c4-354b-58b3-9ec8-0dd8d3f53325.html as at 30 October 2024
  24. 24 Ottawa City News, 14 October 2022, see https://ottawa.citynews.ca/local-news/ontario-man-applying-for-medically-assisted-death-as-alternative-to-being-homeless-5953116/ as at 30 October 2024
  25. 25 Maclean’s online, 30 November 2022, see https://macleans.ca/society/food-bank-pandemic-need/ as at 30 October 2024
  26. 26 BBC News online, 1 February 2024, see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68120380 as at 30 October 2024
  27. 27 BBC News online, 14 January 2023, see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64004329 as at 30 October 2024
  28. 28 ‘Mature minors’, Dying with Dignity Canada, see https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/advocacy/mature-minors/ as at 30 October 2024
  29. 29 Weibe, K and Mullin, A, ‘Choosing death in unjust conditions: hope, autonomy and harm reduction’, Journal of Medical Ethics, 26 April 2023 (published online ahead of print), pages 1-6
  30. 30 Research Co, 5 May 2023, see https://researchco.ca/2023/05/05/maid-canada-2023/ as at 30 October 2024
  31. 31 The Walrus online, 30 May 2023, see https://thewalrus.ca/assisted-dying/ as at 30 October 2024
  32. 32 Equality in residential care in Scotland during coronavirus (COVID-19), , Equality and Human Rights Commission, December 2020, pages 4 and 10
  33. 33 Protect, respect, connect – decisions about living and dying well during COVID-19, Care Quality Commission, 2021, page 20
  34. 34 Annual Report 2020, The Learning Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) Programme, University of Bristol, page 43
  35. 35 Frustrated, Angry and Unfair: Staff Experiences of DNAR Decision-making in 2020, The British Institute of Human Rights, February 2021, page 18

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