Assisted suicide Bills being considered at both Westminster and Holyrood would enable terminally ill adults to get help to kill themselves. Supporters of the moves insist that safeguards will be built in.
References
- 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 Oral evidence: Assisted dying/assisted suicide: House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, 27 June 2023, HC 711, Q200
- 3 The Sunday Telegraph, 25 April 2021
- 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 Regionale Toetsingscommissies Euthanasie: Jaarverslag 2023, April 2024, page 16; Regional euthanasia review committees: Annual Report 2013, September 2014, page 9
- 6 Regionale Toetsingscommissies Euthanasie: Jaarverslag 2023, April 2024, page 16
- 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 ‘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 Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2021 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, February 2022, page 14
- 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 Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2023 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, March 2024, page 9
- 12 Ibid, page 12
- 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 ‘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 Regionale Toetsingscommissies Euthanasie: Jaarverslag 2023, April 2024, page 16; Regional Euthanasia Review Committees: Annual Report 2002, page 11
- 16 Fourth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2022, Health Canada, October 2023, page 20
- 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 Kantar, BMA Survey on Physician-Assisted Dying, October 2020
- 19 The Mail on Sunday, 23 June 2024
- 20 The Times, 6 November 2020
- 21 Fourth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2022, Health Canada, October 2023, pages 20-21
- 22 AP News, 11 August 2022, see https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-toronto-7c631558a457188d2bd2b5cfd360a867 as at 30 October 2024
- 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 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 Maclean’s online, 30 November 2022, see https://macleans.ca/society/food-bank-pandemic-need/ as at 30 October 2024
- 26 BBC News online, 1 February 2024, see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68120380 as at 30 October 2024
- 27 BBC News online, 14 January 2023, see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64004329 as at 30 October 2024
- 28 ‘Mature minors’, Dying with Dignity Canada, see https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/advocacy/mature-minors/ as at 30 October 2024
- 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 Research Co, 5 May 2023, see https://researchco.ca/2023/05/05/maid-canada-2023/ as at 30 October 2024
- 31 The Walrus online, 30 May 2023, see https://thewalrus.ca/assisted-dying/ as at 30 October 2024
- 32 Equality in residential care in Scotland during coronavirus (COVID-19), , Equality and Human Rights Commission, December 2020, pages 4 and 10
- 33 Protect, respect, connect – decisions about living and dying well during COVID-19, Care Quality Commission, 2021, page 20
- 34 Annual Report 2020, The Learning Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) Programme, University of Bristol, page 43
- 35 Frustrated, Angry and Unfair: Staff Experiences of DNAR Decision-making in 2020, The British Institute of Human Rights, February 2021, page 18
Attributions
- fp Man in power wheelchair: https://stock.adobe.com/uk/images/man-with-disability-on-wheelchair-stopped-in-front-of-staircase-raising-awareness-of-architectural-barriers-and-accessibility-issues/530170473
- fp Girl: https://stock.adobe.com/uk/images/teenage-girl-with-stomach-pain/180244259
- fp Syringe: https://stock.adobe.com/uk/images/dog-vaccination/49538122
- p2 Woman in wheelchair: https://stock.adobe.com/uk/images/asian-senior-or-elderly-old-lady-woman-patient-on-wheelchair-looking-out-the-window-so-sad-at-home-healthy-strong-medical-concept/220654141
- p2 Crowd: https://www.123rf.com/photo_47163140_crowd-of-people-walking-on-the-busy-city-street.html
- p3 Amsterdam: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Westerkerk_Amsterdam.jpg
- p3 Mountains in Oregon: https://flic.kr/p/2kfb4JL
- p3 Canadian Parliament: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Parliamenthill.jpg
- p4 Hospital ward: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/drip-on-the-background-of-doctor-walking-down-the-hall-gm856544894-141125919
- p4 Arm of patient: https://stock.adobe.com/uk/images/young-woman-patient-lying-at-hospital-bed-feeling-sad/358636438
- p5 Woman looking distressed: https://stock.adobe.com/uk/images/upset-mature-businesswoman-entrepreneur-do-accounting-paperwork-think-about-tax-bill-debt-lack-money-frustrated-sme-company-bankrupt-owner-sit-at-work-desk-with-stuff-packed-in-boxes-leaving-business/1049776145
- p5 Canadian Mental Health Association logo: https://cmha.ca/
- bp DNR image: https://www.123rf.com/photo_8223234_do-not-resuscitate-dnr-form-with-pen-and-ekg-tracing.html