UK Laws Relating to Euthanasia or Assisted Dying

Choosing to end your own life may seem like a very drastic decision, but for some people, it is a well thought-out and controlled way of dying. In the UK, euthanasia or assisted death is not legal and so people who want to control, in a medical way, how and when they die are required to travel abroad.

The following guide explains why people might choose to end their lives in this way and how they can do it legally. This means travelling to a different country and so the destinations where this is possible are also given.

Why would you want to medically end your own life?

There are a number of reasons why a person wants control over how and when they die. Laws in the UK mean that people who make this decision cannot choose to have they type of controlled and peaceful death that they would like at home.

A person may choose to end their life in this way for reasons such as:

• They have a debilitating illness that is causing them too much pain and discomfort and medication does not improve their symptoms.
• They have a disease that will continually worsen until they die naturally and so their quality of life is constantly decreasing.
• They have a condition that is restricting their mental capacity and they want to make the choice to die in a controlled, pain free way whilst they have the capacity to do so.

Where would a person travel to for assisted death to take place?

People from the UK who choose to end their lives through assisted dying (sometimes referred to as euthanasia) are not legally able to do this in their home country. This means that they must travel abroad for the procedure and there are a number of countries, as outlined below that allow for this. It is entirely legal for a person to travel to these countries for the assisted death process and as long as the person’s decision was made independently and not under duress, supporting family members cannot be prosecuted.

Switzerland

Assisted dying has been legal in Switzerland for decades, though the country has clear laws relating to the motives behind the decision. For example, the country punishes anyone who is deemed to have pressurised another person into taking their own life. This includes for people who encourages assisted dying because they are unable to continue caring for their relative or because they hope to inherit sooner than they would if they waited for a natural death.

This means that in Switzerland, it is legal to assist a person to die as long as there are not selfish motives for doing so. The person who is being assisted must be competent and able to carry out the last act which brings on death. However, voluntary euthanasia, whereby another person administers the last act on behalf of the person wanting to die, is still illegal in Switzerland.

There are two ways for a mentally-competent person from the UK to have an assisted death or accompanied suicide in Switzerland, using a non-profit society. Dignitas and Lifecircle allow foreign nationals to travel to Switzerland and have an assisted death permitted. Generally, the people that use these services are those with terminal illnesses, those who are severely disabled or those whose age has led to them living an arduous life in pain and discomfort.

The Netherlands

Since 2002, doctor-assisted death and voluntary euthanasia have been legal for patients who have illnesses or conditions that are unbearable and have no potential of improving. The country accepted such practices from as early as 1981, but legalisation came two decades later.

Belgium

Like in the Netherlands, Belgium legalise voluntary euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide in 2002. The law states that this form of assisted death can only be given to mentally competent adults who are suffering from irreversible illnesses. A patient who has a condition that is not terminal is only allowed to have an assisted-death procedure if they have waited a month from making their decision.

Luxembourg

Luxembourg, despite being a very small country, has had fifty cases of voluntary euthanasia since the practice was legalised in 2009. The country will not perform voluntary euthanasia for non-Luxembourg citizens.

Colombia

Columbia legally approved the possibility of an assisted death or voluntary euthanasia in 1997 for nationals only. However, despite being one of the earliest countries to do so, the first such death only occurred in 2015. In order for this type of death to be legal in Columbia, the patient’s case and request must be reviewed and passed by an independent committee.

Canada

Canada developed legislation in 2014 for doctor-assisted deaths to be legalised in Quebec and the Federal Government adopted similar legislation two years later. Now, throughout Canada, all mentally competent adult Canadians who have been diagnosed with a “grievous and irremediable condition” and whose death is determined to be “reasonably foreseeable” are entitled to receive medical help to die.

People from the UK often look to Canada for developments in their wording and practices in this field as the countries are regularly considered to be very similar. However, as of yet, the Uk has not adopted similar legislation.

USA

The first state to legalise doctor-assisted deaths in America was Oregon, in 1997. The law was passed for patients with terminal illnesses only, who were adults and was a prognosis of life expectancy of six months or less. In 2008, Washington State adopted the same legislation, with other states following shortly after.

The laws in the states concerned state that a doctor must prescribe the required medication, but it is not essential for a medical professional to be present when the terminally ill patient takes it. There are strict procedures in place for the prescription to be given though. A doctor must receive to verbal requests from the patient with a fifteen-day duration between each request and then a two-day period between the final verbal request and a written request being made. At the written request stage, the prescription may be dispensed.