Campaigners for assisted suicide are stepping up their efforts. There are new legislative proposals at both Westminster and Holyrood to enable terminally ill adults to get help to kill themselves.
References
- 1The Guardian online, 17 January 2021, see https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/jan/17/jonathan-sumption-cancer-patient-life-less-valuable-others as at 4 August 2021
- 2Not Dead Yet UK briefing note, February 2019, pages 5-8, see http://notdeadyetuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/not-dead-yet-uk-briefing-note-as-polls-feb-2019-final.pdf as at 4 august 2021; ‘Disabled people like me fear assisted suicide: it suggests that some lives are less worth living’, Jane Campbell, The BMJ Opinion, 6 February 2019, see https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2019/02/06/disabled-people-like-me-fear-legal-assisted-suicide-it-suggests-that-some-lives-are-less-worth-living/ as at 4 August 2021
- 3Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2020 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, February 2021, page 12
- 4The Sunday Telegraph, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, February 2021, page 12
- 5Regional Euthanasia Review Committees: Annual Report 2019, March 2020, page 12; Regional Euthanasia Review Committees: Annual Report 2009, May 2010, page 5
- 6The Times online,19 July 2020, see https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dutch-mp-backs-euthanasia-for-over-75s-who-are-tired-of-life-z8bdp6685 as at 4 August 2021
- 7 Jones, D A, Gastmans, C and MacKellar, C (Eds), Euthanasia and assisted suicide: lessons from Belgium, Cambridge University Press, 2017, page 102
- 8Global News online, 17 March 2021, see https://globalnews.ca/news/7703262/canada-senate-passes-bill-c-7/ as at 4 August 2021; ‘Should Mentally Ill Patients Have the Right to Euthanasia?’, Psychology Today, 21 April 2021, see https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/finding-purpose/202104/should-mentally-ill-patients-have-the-right-euthanasia as at 6 August 2021
- 9Regional Euthanasia Review Committees: Annual Report 2019, March 2020, page 10; Regional Euthanasia Review Committees: Annual Report 2002, page 11
- 10Second Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2020, Health Canada, June 2021, page 13-14
- 11Oregon Death with Dignity Act: 2020 Data Summary, Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division, February 2021, pages 9 and 11; Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act – 2010, Oregon Public Health Division
- 12Neuvième Rapport aux Chambres Législatives: Années 2018-2019, Commission Fédérale de Contrôle et d’Evaluation de l’Euthanasie, page 12; Premier Rapport aux Chambres Législatives: 22 September 2002 – 31 Décembre 2003, Commission Fédérale de Contrôle et d’Evaluation de l’Euthanasie, page 7
- 13 GB News tweet, 27 June 2021, see https://twitter.com/GBNEWS/status/1409166930586615810 as at 4 August 2021
- 14 ‘What We Want’, My Death, My Decision, see https://www.mydeath-mydecision.org.uk/what-we-want/ as at 4 August 2021
- 15 Irwin, M, Approaching Old-Old, Society for Old Age Rational Suicide, June 2014, page 55; The Guardian, 9 March 2021
- 16The Sunday Times, 6 June 2021
- 17‘No majority view on assisted dying moves RCP position to neutral’, Royal College of Physicians, 21 March 2019, see https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/news/no-majority-view-assisted-dying-moves-rcp-position-neutral as at 4 August 2021
- 18‘Royal College of GPs remains opposed to change in the law on assisted dying’, Royal College of General Practitioners, 21 February 2020, see https://www.rcgp.org.uk/about-us/news/2020/february/royal-college-of-gps-remains-opposed-to-change-in-the-law-on-assisted-dying.aspx as at 4 August 2021
- 19‘Physician-assisted dying survey’, BMA,16 July 2021, see https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/ethics/end-of-life/physician-assisted-dying-survey as at 4 August 2021; Kantar, BMA Survey on Physician-Assisted Dying, February 2020
- 20The Telegraph online 20 February 2009, see https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/4736927/Right-to-die-can-become-a-duty-to-die.html as at 5 August 2021; New York Post online, 24 October 2016, see https://nypost.com/2016/10/24/terminally-ill-mom-denied-treatment-coverage-but-gets-suicide-drugs-approved/ as at 5 August 2021
- 21National Review online, 24 January 2020, see https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/01/euthanasia-canada-government-pressures-hospice-to-kill/ as at 5 August 2021
- 22The 2015 quality of death index: Ranking palliative care across the world, The Economist Intelligence Unit, July 2015
- 23The Times, 6 November 2020
- 24Protect, respect, connect – decisions about living and dying well during COVID-19, Care Quality Commission, 2021
- 25Ibid, page 20
- 26Annual Report 2020, The Learning Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) Programme, University of Bristol, page 43
- 27Frustrated, Angry and Unfair: Staff Experiences of DNAR Decision-making in 2020, The British Institute of Human Rights, February 2021, page 18