{"id":423465,"date":"2024-11-29T21:22:57","date_gmt":"2024-11-29T21:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=423465"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"European-countries-that-allow-assisted-dying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/European-countries-that-allow-assisted-dying\/","title":{"rendered":"European countries that allow assisted dying"},"content":{"rendered":"

UK lawmakers will debate on Friday a new bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales that has sparked concern among opponents about its implications.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Europe several countries already allow the terminally ill to receive help to end their lives.<\/p>\n

Here is a round-up of the situation on the continent:<\/p>\n

– Dutch first –\u00a0<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

In 2002, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalise active euthanasia, whereby doctors administer lethal doses of drugs to patients suffering from an incurable condition.<\/p>\n

It also legalised assisted suicide, where patients can receive help to take their own life voluntarily.<\/p>\n

The Dutch law said the patient must have “unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement” and must have requested to die in a way that is “voluntary, well considered and with full conviction”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2012, the Netherlands expanded the law to authorise euthanasia for over-12s in great suffering, provided they have parental consent, and in 2020 to patients with severe dementia, if the patient had requested the procedure while still mentally competent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Dutch government in 2023 also approved euthanasia for children under 12 after years of debate, permitting mercy deaths for young minors suffering “unbearably and without hope”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

– Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal –<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Belgium was the second country to adopt euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2002, with similar caveats to the Dutch.<\/p>\n

In 2014 it went further by allowing terminally ill children of all ages to also request the procedure, with the consent of their parents.<\/p>\n

Luxembourg decriminalised euthanasia and assisted dying in 2009.<\/p>\n

Spain in 2021 authorised euthanasia and medically assisted suicide for people with a serious and incurable illness, followed by Portugal in 2023. In the latter case, the law is not yet in force.<\/p>\n

– Switzerland –<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Switzerland, which prohibits euthanasia, has for decades allowed assisted suicide, making it the go-to destination for patients from around Europe looking for assistance to end their suffering.<\/p>\n

The growth of so-called “suicide tourism” has caused much soul-searching in Switzerland but the authorities decided in 2011 against restricting the practice.<\/p>\n

Neighbouring Austria, a staunchly Catholic nation, also legalised assisted suicide in 2022 after its constitutional court ruled the country was violating citizens’ fundamental rights with the prohibition.<\/p>\n

In Italy, where assisted dying is against the law, the constitutional court allowed an exception in 2019.<\/p>\n

The court ruled it should not always be punishable to help someone with “intolerable” physical or psychological suffering to commit suicide.<\/p>\n

bur-ot-eab\/ju\/phz\/sbk<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A disability campaigner demonstrates outside the Houses of Parliament in London on April 29, 2024 during a gathering in favour of the proposals to legalise assisted suicide in the UK<\/p>\n

-Ben Stansall
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UK lawmakers will debate on Friday a new bill to legalise assisted dying in England…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23812],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-423465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423465\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}