Editing Assisted suicide (section)

==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}}}}
{{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>]]

Medical aid in dying 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">{{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>{{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=Colorado End-of-Life Options Act |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=24 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224024805/https://cdphe.colorado.gov/center-for-health-and-environmental-data/registries-and-vital-statistics/medical-aid-in-dying |url-status=live }}</ref> Hawaii,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://health.hawaii.gov/opppd/files/2018/11/OCOC-Act2.pdf |title=Our Care, Our Choice Act |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=17 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217202854/https://health.hawaii.gov/opppd/files/2018/11/OCOC-Act2.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Maine]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/bills_129th/billtexts/HP094801.asp |title=Death with Dignity Act |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=17 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217202902/https://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/bills_129th/billtexts/HP094801.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Montana]],{{NoteTag|See ''[[Baxter v. Montana]]''.}}<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> [[New Jersey]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nj.gov/health/advancedirective/maid/ |title=Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=1 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101051948/https://nj.gov/health/advancedirective/maid/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[New Mexico]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/21%20Regular/bills/house/HB0047.pdf |title=Elizabeth Whitefield End-of-Life Options Act |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=1 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401032211/https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/21%20Regular/bills/house/HB0047.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Oregon]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/ProviderPartnerResources/Evaluationresearch/deathwithdignityact/Pages/index.aspx |title=Death with Dignity Act |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=1 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101191717/https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/providerpartnerresources/evaluationresearch/deathwithdignityact/pages/index.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Vermont]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.healthvermont.gov/systems/end-of-life-decisions/patient-choice-and-control-end-life|title=Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act|date=23 November 2016|access-date=17 December 2021|archive-date=5 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220105105703/https://www.healthvermont.gov/systems/end-of-life-decisions/patient-choice-and-control-end-life|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Washington (state)|Washington]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/IllnessandDisease/DeathwithDignityAct |title=Death with Dignity Act |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=2 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902202500/https://www.doh.wa.gov/youandyourfamily/illnessanddisease/deathwithdignityact |url-status=live }}</ref> and Washington DC<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dchealth.dc.gov/page/death-dignity-act-2016 |title=District of Columbia Death with Dignity Act of 2016, D.C. Law 21-182 |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=17 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217202915/https://dchealth.dc.gov/page/death-dignity-act-2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>) and Australia ([[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> [[Queensland]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/tableOffice/TabledPapers/2021/5721T707.pdf |title=Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2021 |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=1 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101014412/https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/tableOffice/TabledPapers/2021/5721T707.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> [[South Australia]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/LZ/B/CURRENT/VOLUNTARY%20ASSISTED%20DYING%20BILL%202020_HON%20KYAM%20MAHER%20MLC.aspx |title=Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2020 |date=22 November 2021 |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=22 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122043623/https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/LZ/B/CURRENT/VOLUNTARY%20ASSISTED%20DYING%20BILL%202020_HON%20KYAM%20MAHER%20MLC.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Tasmania]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/Bills/current/30_of_2020.html |title=End Of Life Choices (Voluntary Assisted Dying) Bill 2020 (30 of 2020) |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=23 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523215109/https://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/Bills/current/30_of_2020.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/acts/voluntary-assisted-dying-act-2017/004 |title=Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=21 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121050831/http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/acts/voluntary-assisted-dying-act-2017/004 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Western Australia]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/voluntaryassisteddying |title=Voluntary assisted dying |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=8 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108032955/https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/voluntaryassisteddying |url-status=live }}</ref>). The Constitutional Courts of [[Colombia]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/1997/c-239-97.htm |title=Sentencia C-239/97 |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=21 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230121183452/http://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/1997/C-239-97.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2014/t-970-14.htm |title=Sentencia T-970/14 |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=6 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106203847/https://corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2014/t-970-14.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/comunicados/Comunicado%2015%20-%20Mayo%2011%20de%202022.pdf |title=Sentencia C-164-2022 |access-date=17 May 2022 |archive-date=16 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516191403/https://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/comunicados/Comunicado%2015%20-%20Mayo%2011%20de%202022.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Ecuador,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Espericueta |first=Luis |title=Analysis of the legal situation regarding euthanasia in Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru: Towards a Latin American model of medical assistance in dying? |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dewb.12457 |journal=Developing World Bioethics |date=2024 |language=en |volume=n/a |issue=n/a |doi=10.1111/dewb.12457 |pmid=38995203 |issn=1471-8847}}</ref> [[Estonia]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Riigikohus selgitas tervishoiuteenuse mõistet |url=https://www.riigikohus.ee/et/uudiste-arhiiv/riigikohus-selgitas-tervishoiuteenuse-moistet |publisher=Riigikohus |date=6 May 2025}}</ref> [[Germany]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Entscheidungen/DE/2020/02/rs20200226_2bvr234715.html |title=Zum Urteil des Zweiten Senats vom 26. Februar 2020 |date=26 February 2020 |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=22 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522132729/https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Entscheidungen/DE/2020/02/rs20200226_2bvr234715.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Italy]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.quotidianosanita.it/allegati/allegato8990968.pdf |title=Sentenza n. 242/2019 |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=29 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129231122/http://www.quotidianosanita.it/allegati/allegato8990968.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> legalized assisted suicide, but their governments have not legislated or regulated the practice yet.

===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 |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|Medical aid in dying 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=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=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|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 |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|url-status=dead}}</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 February 2025, the [[Italian Parliament]] has not yet legislated on the regulation of assisted suicide, while the [[Regional Council of Tuscany]] has passed a regional law outlining organizational 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> 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 17 [[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 14 February 2025, six people have received assisted suicide in Italy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 January 2025 |title=Fine vita, primo caso di suicidio assistito in Lombardia |language=it |work=RaiNews |url=https://www.rainews.it/articoli/2025/02/fine-vita-primo-caso-di-suicidio-assistito-in-lombardia-89656753-0a52-4b31-8fff-0dfd65b5f7f4.html |access-date=15 February 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 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Netherlands===
{{Main|Euthanasia in the Netherlands}}
In 2002, the Netherlands became 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=[[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.

===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"/>

===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=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| 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 = 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 he or she was 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 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 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>

===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|url-status=dead}}</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|url-status=dead}}</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|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|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}}
[[File:States and medical aid in dying.png|thumb|323x323px|States where Medical Aid in Dying is legal]]
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> 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>

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" />

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|url-status=dead}}</ref>