Assisted suicide

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Suicide assisted is a suicide done with the help of others, sometimes a doctor. This term is often used interchangeably with the physician-assisted suicide (PAS ), which involves a physician "consciously and intentionally providing a person with the knowledge or means or both necessary to perform suicide, including counseling about lethal doses of drugs, prescribing such lethal doses or supplying drugs. "

Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Colombia, and Switzerland allow physicians to physically assist in patient deaths. In the United States, seven countries allow supporters who refer to medical assistance in a state of dying and opponents as suicide with the help, the practice in which a person who has been diagnosed with a deadly disease with six months or less for life can request a lethal dose of barbiturates to regulate own. This choice is defined as a legal form of suicide aided by different state laws. Suicide without medical assistance is against the law by general law or criminal law in most of the United States (with some states having no definitive laws or laws).

Suicides assisted by doctors are similar to but formally different from euthanasia. In the case of euthanasia, doctors regulate the mode of death, usually a lethal drug. In physician-assisted suicide, it is necessary that a person with a healthy mind voluntarily expresses his desire to die and asks for a dose of barbiturate that will end his life. The distinguishing aspect is that physician-assisted suicide requires the patient to self-manage the medication.

Video Assisted suicide

Support

Arguments for centralized suicide

One of the arguments for assisted suicide is that it reduces prolonged suffering to those suffering from a deadly disease. When death is near (half a year or less) the patient may choose to assist death as a medical option to shorten what he considers an irresistible death process. Pain is largely unreported as the primary motivation for seeking a doctor assisted suicide in the United States; the three most common late-life concerns reported by Oregon residents taking advantage of the Death With Dignity Act in 2015 are: reduced ability to participate in activities that make life fun (96.2%), loss of autonomy (92.4%), and loss of dignity (78.4%).

Statistical Oregon

A study of hospital nurses and social workers in Oregon reported that symptoms of pain, depression, anxiety, extreme hunger and fear of death were more pronounced among hospice patients who did not ask for a deadly prescription for barbiturates, a drug used for doctors aided death.

A Journal of Palliative Medicine reported that hospital use patterns noted that Oregon was in the highest quartile of the lowest possible shelter and quartile use of home care usage patterns. A similar trend is found in Vermont, where AiD is authorized in 2013.

In Oregon, hospital mortality rates are at the lowest level in the country, where mortality rates are at the highest level in the country, and malignant suicides among hospital patients have been significantly reduced.

In February 2016, Oregon released a report on their 2015 figures. During 2015, there are 218 people in the state who are approved and receive deadly drugs to end their own lives. Of 218, 132 severely ill patients finally made the decision to swallow the drugs, which resulted in their death. According to the state of the Oregon General Health Division survey, the majority of participants, 78%, are 65 years old or older and are predominantly Caucasian, 93.1%. 72% of severely ill patients who choose to end their own lives have been diagnosed with some form of cancer. In the Oregon 2015 survey, they asked severely ill people who participated in medical assistance in a state of dying, what their biggest concerns about the end of life were: 96.2 percent of those people mentioned the loss of the ability to participate in activities that have occurred make them enjoy life, 92.4 percent mention loss of autonomy, or independence of their own thoughts or actions, and 75.4% percent declare their loss of dignity (Oregon Death With Dignity Act).

Washington State Statistics

The increasing trend of deaths caused by swallowing lethal doses of drugs prescribed by doctors is also noted in Washington: from 64 deaths in 2009 to 202 deaths by 2015. Among the deceased, 72% had terminal cancer and 8% had neurodegenerative diseases (including ALS).

AS. Poll

The poll was conducted by Gallup since 1947 by asking the question, "When a person has an incurable disease, do you think the doctor should be allowed to end the patient's life in a non-painful way if the patient and his family ask for it?" showed support for training that increased from 37% in 1947 to a 75% highland lasting from about 1990 to 2005. When polling questions were modified so that the question caused "intense pain" as opposed to an incurable disease, "legalization" Unlike generally permitting doctors, and "patient suicide" rather than physician-run euthanasia, public support is substantially lower, about 10% to 15%.

A poll conducted by the National Journal and Regence Foundation found that both Oregonians and Washingtonians are more familiar with the term "end-of-life care" of the rest of the country and the population of both countries are a little more aware of the terms palliative and hospitals. care.

A survey of the Journal of Palliative Medicine found that family caregivers of patients who chose assisted deaths were more likely to find a positive meaning in treating patients and were better prepared to receive patient deaths rather than family caregivers of patients who did not ask for assisted deaths.

Protection

Many of the currently-assisted suicide/assisted suicide laws contain provisions intended to provide monitoring and investigative processes to prevent abuse.

This includes the eligibility and qualification process, mandatory reporting by the medical team, and the supervision of the medical council. In Oregon and other states, two doctors and two witnesses must state that a person's request for a deadly prescription is not forced or under undue influence.

This protection includes proving your place of residence and eligibility. You should meet with two doctors and they should confirm your diagnosis before you can continue; in some cases, they include psychiatric evaluations as well to determine whether the patient made this decision on his own or not. The next step is two oral requests, a waiting period of at least 15 days before making your next request. Written requests to be witnessed by two different people, one of whom can not be a family member, and then another waiting period by your doctor where they say you are eligible for drugs or not ("Death with Dignity").

The debate over whether this protection work is debated between opponents and supporters.

Supporting organizations

Below are some of the major organizations that support medical assistance in a state of dying:

Compassionate and Option

Compassion and Choices is a nonprofit organization to support end-of-life care and claims to be the largest nonprofit in the United States to do so. Created over 30 years ago, the group provided legal assistance to patients as well as advice and information on medical assistance in death.

Death with Dignity National Center

Death with Dignity The National Center is a nonprofit organization that has existed since 1993. The organization is primarily concerned with the original writings and continues the advocacy of Oregon Death with Dignity Law enacted on October 27, 1997. Oregon, Washington, and the Vermont law state that patients who are mentally competent, and severely ill patients can determine if they want to receive prescription drugs so they can die in a humane and peaceful way.

Dignity (Switzerland)

Dignity helps Swiss citizens and foreigners die by giving advice and deadly drugs. The legal prerequisite is that a person must have a deadly disease, an unbearable inability to paralyze or an unbearable and uncontrollable pain. However, in practice they also receive psychiatric patients or those who do not have a medical diagnosis. 25% of people in Switzerland who use suicide aid do not have a deadly but "tired" disease, such as retired British art teacher who committed suicide on March 27, 2014 "partly because she is fed up with the modern world of email, TV, computers and food ready-to-eat supermarkets. "

Dignity in Dying

Dignity in Dying Is a UK-based campaign group for the right to die, supporting members with advice and information relating to palliative care, and other end-of-life choices. Organizations often campaign for the right of adults to make choices about their end-of-life choices. The group was founded in 1935 and has since become one of the larger organizations to openly support assisted suicides in Britain. Their main goal is to choose how they die and have a truly free choice for their ultimate choice of life.

Disabled Activist for Dishinies in Dying

DADID is a campaign group created by Dignity in Dying for people with disabilities who share a group perspective on death assistance in the UK. The YouGov poll conducted by the National Secular Society, which supports assisted deaths, suggests that 80% of disabled people support changes in the law, such as the Lord Falconer bill to allow some form of assisted suicide. Given that the group is a branch of Dignity in Dying, the wider community of disabilities generally does not recognize the latter as a civil rights group or a genuine grassroots effort. Assisted deaths are not the mainstream policy objectives among disabled rights activists, who generally focus on education, the abolition of sub-minimum wages and access to resources that enable persons with disabilities to live in their communities.

Exit

Out is a Scottish organization that supports permissive models of rights-of-way laws based on published research and recommendations from Glasgow University using the 'rule-of-exception' format (against euthanasia) to facilitate transparency and open protection. Out published the world's first guide to medical aid in the dying, called How to Diet by Dignity (1980); followed by Departing Drugs (1993), and Five Last Acts series. Exit also publishes a Blog with extensive analysis of suicide related issues.

Exit International

Exit International is the publisher of the dying guidebook assisted by The Peaceful Pill Handbook. Philip Nitschke and Dr. Fiona Stewart. Founded in 2006 by Nitschke and based in Bellingham, Washington, Exit International is an organization assisted by pro-choice death with an online membership of about 18,000 internationally. Organizations hold meetings and workshops in the US, Canada, UK and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

End Out Network

Final Exit Network, Inc. is a non-profit organization established in 2004 for the purpose of serving as a resource for individuals seeking emotional medical information and support in a medically dying state as a means to end painful chronic suffering - though not necessarily terminal illness.

World Federation Rights for Community Die

The World Federation of Rights to Die Societies was founded in 1980 and includes thirty-eight right to death organizations in twenty-three different countries.

Maps Assisted suicide

Opposition

Medical ethics

Code of Conduct

The latest version of the American Medical Association Code of Ethics clearly states that physician-assisted suicide is prohibited. This prohibits physician-assisted suicide because "it is fundamentally incompatible with the role of physician as a healer" and will therefore be "difficult or impossible to control, and will pose serious social risks".

Hippocratic Oath

Some doctors warn that physician-assisted suicide goes against the Hippocratic Oath, which is a vow historically taken by doctors. It states "I will not give lethal drugs to anyone if asked, or advise such advice". The original oath but has been modified many times and, contrary to popular belief, is not required by most modern medical schools.

Geneva Declaration

The Geneva Declaration is a revision of the Hippocratic Oath, first drafted in 1948 by the World Medical Association in response to forced euthanasia, eugenics and other medical crimes committed in Nazi Germany. It contains, "I will keep my utmost respect for human life."

International Medical Code of Ethics

The International Medical Code of Ethics, most recently revised in 2006, includes "A doctor must always remember the obligation to respect human life" in the "Doctor duties for patients" section.

Marbella Statement

The Marbella statement was adopted by the 44th World Medical Assembly in Marbella, Spain, in 1992. It provides that "physician-assisted suicides, such as euthanasia, are unethical and should be condemned by the medical profession."

Opposition Because Expansion to People with Chronic Disorder and Disability

There are many health care professionals, especially those concerned with bioethics, who oppose PAS because of the detrimental effects that procedures can have on vulnerable populations. This argument is known as "slippery slope". This argument includes the understanding that once a PAS is initiated for a severely ill person it will develop into other vulnerable communities, that is, a disabled person, and may begin to be used by those who feel inappropriate based on their demographic or socioeconomic status. In addition, vulnerable populations are more at risk of premature death because, "Patients may be subject to PAS without their original consent".

Religious attitudes

Buddhism

Catholicism

The Roman Catholic Church recognizes the fact that moral decisions about one's life must be done according to their own conscience and belief. The Catholic tradition says that one's attention to the suffering of others is not sufficient reason to decide whether it is appropriate to act on euthanasia. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "God is the creator and author of all life." In this belief system God created human life, therefore God is the judge when ending life. From the perspective of the Roman Catholic Church, deliberately ending one's life or the lives of others is morally wrong and opposed to Catholic doctrine. Furthermore, ending a person's life robs the person and his loved ones at the time left in life and causes great sadness and sorrow for those left behind.

Pope Francis is the dominant Catholic Church figure today. He asserted that death is a noble event and can not be decided by anyone other than God. Pope Francis insists that defending life means maintaining his purity. The Roman Catholic Church teaches its followers that euthanasia action is unacceptable because it is considered a sin, as opposed to the Ten Commandments, "Do not kill. (You will not kill)." As implied by the fifth commandment, suicide is assisted against the dignity of human life as well as the respect the Lord has.

The Roman Catholic Church also recognizes the Good Samaritan story. It uses the story to summonfully over the Good Samaritan's actions and his love for his neighbors. In this tradition, the act of helping suicide negates the respect and love we should have for our neighbors, because the mistake put God's love to his followers in the hands of doctors.

As an alternative to physician-assisted Suicide and to relieve pain, the Catholic Church proposes that severely ill patients focus on religion and make peace with the Creator while receiving the love and compassion of their families and caregivers. In addition, the Roman Catholic Church recommends that severely ill patients should receive palliative care, relating to physical pain while treating psychological and spiritual suffering as well, not physician-assisted Suicide.

Judaism

While the preservation of life is one of the greatest values ​​in Judaism, there are rare instances of suicide and the help of suicide appearing in the Bible and Rabbinic literature. Medieval authorities debated the legitimacy of such actions and under what limited circumstances they might apply. The conclusion of the majority of rabbinical rulers then, and accepting normative practice in Judaism, is that suicide and assisted suicide can not be penalized even for terminal patients in harsh pain.

Unitarian Universalism

According to General Resolution 1988, "Unitarian Universalists advocate for the right to self-determination in death, and the release of civil or criminal punishment from those who, under proper protection, act to respect the right of severely ill patients to choose their own death time".

Mormonism

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opposes euthanasia. Anyone who takes part in euthanasia, including "suicide with help", is considered to have violated the commandments of God. However, the Church recognizes that when a person is in the final stages of a terminal illness, there may be difficult decisions to take. The Church declares that 'When death becomes inevitable, death must be seen as a blessing and a part of purpose for eternal existence. Members should not feel obliged to prolong mortal life in an unreasonable way. Organization

against suicide detention

Below is an organization that opposes medical assistance in a state of dying:

• ADAPT - The US Disability for Today Attendant Program is a United States organization active in the rights movement of people with disabilities. They opposed the legalization of physician-assisted suicide, arguing that it was "an equivalent protection breach guaranteed by the Americans with Disabilities Act."
• Agudath Israel of America
• Autonomous Advocacy Network
• British Medical Association
• Care Not Killing is a UK-based group that combines a number of organizations that are opposed to suicide with help under a public banner.
• Christian Medical Fellowship
• Disability and Defense Fund Education
• Euthanasia Prevention Coalition International, founded in 1998 in Canada, is an international organization that opposes euthanasia and aids suicide.
• The First Family of New Zealand
• The Connecticut Family Institute
• Freedom Center for Independent Living A non-profit group established to empower persons with disabilities to exercise their rights.
• International Association for Hospitality & amp; Palliative Care
• National Council for Disability
• National Spinal Cord Injury Association
• Not Dead But it is a group of rights of people with disabilities of the United States who opposed suicide and euthanasia assisted for the disabled.
• Orthodox Union is one of the oldest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States.
• Patient's Rights Action Fund
• Royal College of General Practitioners
• Royal College of Physicians
• TASH is an international advocacy association for people with disabilities, their family members, other supporters, and people working in disability. The mission of TASH is to promote the inclusion and full participation of children and adults with significant disabilities in every aspect of their community, and to eliminate social injustices that reduce human rights.
• True Dignity is a United States organization based in the state of Vermont.
• The Russian Orthodox Church of Kanon considers all forms of suicide, except for suicides committed due to mental disorders (madness), great sins, and human error: "A calculated suicide, who" does so because of human hatred or other Incidents of persecution , will not be given a Christian funeral or a liturgical warning (Timothy of Alexandria, Canon 14).
• The United States Catholic Bishops Conference declares its rejection of assisted suicide.
• Voice for Life
• The official position of the World Medical Association is: "Suicide with the help of doctors, such as euthanasia, unethical and should be condemned by the medical profession.If the help of a doctor deliberately and deliberately directed to allow an individual to terminate or his own life, doctors act unethically. But the right to refuse medical care is a fundamental right of the patient and the doctor does not act unethically even if respecting such wishes leads to the death of the patient. "

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Attitude doctors and healthcare professionals

It is widely acknowledged that physicians should play a role in suicide and assisted euthanasia (as evidenced in the name of physician-assisted suicide), often putting them at the forefront of the matter. The decade of opinion research shows that doctors in the US and some European countries are less supportive of PAS legalization than the general public. In the US, although "about two-thirds of the American public since the 1970s" has supported legalization, surveys of doctors "rarely show as much as half support a step." However, physicians and other health professionals' opinions vary widely in suicide problems with help, as shown in the following table.

Attitudes to PAS vary according to the health profession as well; An extensive survey of 3733 medical doctors sponsored by the National Council for Palliative Care, Age Concern, Hospital Assistance, Macmillan Cancer Support, the Neurone Motor Disease Association, MS Society and Sue Ryder Care show that the opposition to euthanasia and PAS is the highest. among palliative care and elderly specialist care, with over 90% palliative care specialists for changes in the law.

In a 1997 study by the Institute of Law & amp; University of Glasgow. Ethics in Medicine found pharmacists (72%) and anesthesiologists (56%) to generally support PAS endorsement. Pharmacists are twice as likely as medical doctors to support the view that "if a patient has decided to end their own lives then doctors should be allowed in law to help". A report published in January 2017 by NPR suggests that the thoroughness of protection that allows clinicians to refrain from participating in the recently-assisted suicide assisted city in the United States currently creates a lack of access by those who will qualify for the exercise.

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Legality by country

Voluntary euthanasia was passed in Colombia (in 1997), the Netherlands (in 2002), Belgium (in 2002), Luxembourg (in 2008), and Canada (in 2016). Assisted suicide, where the patient has to take his own last act (unlike voluntary euthanasia), is legal in Canada, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland and parts of the United States. In the United States there are dying laws that are aided for seriously ill adults in Oregon, Montana, Washington, Vermont, Hawaii, California, Colorado and Washington D.C. The law requires doctors who treat patients to state mental competence. Oregon was the first United States state to legalize assisted suicide, achieved by popular vote. The law is a citizen initiative passed twice by Oregon voters. The first time in the general election was in November 1994 when it went through a 51% to 49% difference. An order delayed the enforcement of the law until it was lifted on October 27, 1997. In November 1997, a measure was placed on an election ballot to withdraw the Act. Voters choose to retain the Act with a margin of 60% to 40%.

Australia

Assisted assisted suicides are currently illegal throughout Australia with the exception of Victoria where the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Victoria) was adopted on 29 November 2017. It was valid in the Northern Territory for a short time under the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995.

Belgium

The "Euthanasia Act" legalized euthanasia in Belgium in 2002, but did not include assisted suicide.

In 2006, Belgium partially legalized euthanasia with certain rules:

• The patient must become an adult and in "the futile medical condition of constant and irresistible constant physical and mental suffering that can not be lightened".
• The patient should have a long-term history with the doctor, with euthanasia/physician assisted suicide only allowed for permanent residents.
• There should be several requests reviewed by the commission and approved by two doctors.

Until November 2015, Belgium has the most liberal assisted suicide laws in the world.

In 2014, Belgium became the first country to legalize euthanasia for children, on demand, if they have terminal illness and understand the impact of their actions.

Canada

Suicide was considered a crime in Canada until 1972. Doctor-assisted suicide has been valid in Quebec Province since June 5, 2014. It was declared valid throughout the country due to the Supreme Court of Canada's decision Carter v Canada (AG) , from February 6, 2015. After a long delay, the House of Commons issued a Bill (C-14) in mid-June 2016 allowing for physician-assisted suicide. Between December 10, 2015 and June 30, 2017, since the death of Bill C-14, more than 2,149 medically assisted deaths were documented in Canada. A study published by Health Canada describes a physician's preference for a given euthanasia doctor, citing effective administration concerns and prevention of potential complications from self-administration by the patient.

China

In China, unlawful assisted suicide under Articles 232 and 233 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China.

An article in the People's Daily reported that "Nine people from Xi'an City in China made the news when they" co-wrote to the local media asking for euthanasia, or mercy murder. [84] These people suffer from uremia, a disease due to kidney failure, and declare "unbearable suffering and [aversion] to burden their families again". [85] In China, suicide or neglect is considered a murder and can be sentenced to three to seven years in prison. Zhong's case was denied the legality of assisted suicide.

Colombia

In May 1997, the Colombian Constitutional Court allowed the euthanasia of ailing patients who demanded to end their lives, issuing Article 326 of the Criminal Code 1980. This ruling owes its success to the group's efforts against euthanasia. When one of his members filed a lawsuit to the Supreme Court of Colombia against him, the court issued a 6 to 3 decision that "spelled the rights of the severely ill to engage in voluntary euthanasia."

In February 2015, the Supreme Court granted the government 30 days to create a comprehensive set of guidelines for doctors, to assist them in avoiding lawlessness, even though technically legal, many doctors face lawsuits in which they must prove that all legal requirements meet before procedure. This fear of legal action has caused many doctors to refuse to perform the procedure, despite its legality.

Denmark

In Denmark, passive euthanasia, or refusal to receive treatment is not illegal. But voluntary euthanasia when a patient is actively trying to commit suicide is illegal. 71% of Danish citizens support suicide attempts with legal aid.

French

The controversy over the legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is not as great as in the United States because of the country's "well-developed hospital care program". However, in 2000 the controversy over this topic was ignited by Vincent Humbert. After a car accident that made him unable to walk, see, talk, smell or feel ', he used his right thumb motion to write a book, Ask for the Right to Die (Je vous demande le droit de mourir) in which he voiced his desire to "die legally". After his appeal was rejected, his mother helped kill him by injecting him with an overdose of barbiturates that made him comatose, killing him two days later. Although his mother was arrested for assisting in his son's death and subsequently released, the case sparked a new law stating that when a drug serves "no purpose other than artificial support" it can be "suspended or not done".

In 2013 President Francois Hollande said that France should hold a national debate on the issue, and declared its intention to introduce the bill to parliament before the end of the year. Opinion polls in France show that the majority of the population supports assisted suicide law, but the French national ethical committee has suggested that no changes be made to the law.

German

Killing someone in accordance with his demands is always illegal under the German criminal code (Verse 216, "Killing at the request of the victim, murder of mercy").

Assisting suicide by, for example, giving poison or weapons, is generally legal. Because suicide itself is legal, help or encouragement can not be punished by the usual legal mechanisms of dealing with involvement and incitement (German criminal law follows the idea of ​​"engagement accessory" stating that "the motive of someone who incites others to commit suicide, or who helps in his commission, is irrelevant "). Nor does it help suicide that is explicitly prohibited by the criminal code. However, there are legal effects under certain conditions for a number of reasons. Aside from the laws governing firearms, the trading and handling of controlled substances and the like (for example when getting poison for a person committing suicide), this involves three points:

Free vs. manipulated

If the person committing suicide is not acting on his or her own will, then the assistance may be punished by one of a number of murder offenses provided by criminal law, for having "acted through another person" (Ã,§§25, part 1 of the German Criminal Code, usually called "mittelbare TÃÆ'¤terschaft"). The act of getting out of free will is not ruled out by the decision to end one's life; can be assumed as long as the suicidal person "decides his own fate to the end [...] and controls the situation."

However, free can not be assumed if someone is manipulated or cheated. An example of this classic book, in German law, is the so-called Sirius case that became the basis of the Federal Court in 1983: The defendant convinced an acquaintance that he would be reincarnated into a better life if he committed suicide. He was unsuccessful in attempting suicide, leading the defendant to be accused, and was eventually convicted of attempted murder. (The defendant also assured his acquaintance that he was from a Sirius star, hence the name of his case).

Regardless of manipulation, the criminal code states three conditions in which a person does not act on his own free will:

1. if the person is under 14
2. if the person is "one of the mental illnesses registered in Ã,§20 of the German Criminal Code"
3. someone acting in an emergency.

In this situation, even if daily speaking someone may say that a person acts on his own will, the conviction of the murder is possible.

Abandoned tasks to save

German criminal law requires everyone to save others in an emergency, within certain limits (Ã,§323c of the German criminal code, "Allowing for an easy rescue effect"). This is also known as the task to save in English. Under this rule, the one who helped commit suicide could be punished if, in discovering the person who committed suicide unconsciously, he did not do everything in his power to revive him. In other words, if someone helps someone commit suicide, leave, but come back and find the person unconscious, he should try to revive him.

This reason is disputed by jurists, stating that the life-threatening condition that is part of the ongoing suicide, is not an emergency. For those who will rely on that defense, the Federal Court has considered it an emergency in the past.

Murder by negligence

German law puts certain people in a warrantor position (Garantenstellung) for the welfare of others, such as parents, spouses, doctors and police officers. Such people may be legally bound to do what they can to prevent suicide; otherwise they are guilty of murder for negligence.

Iceland

Assisted suicide is illegal. "At the moment, there are no initiatives in Iceland seeking legalized euthanasia or assisted suicide Discussions about euthanasia have never been noticed in Iceland, and both laypeople and health care professionals seem to have little interest in this topic.Some articles have appeared in the newspaper but got little attention. "

ireland

The assisted suicide was illegal. "Both euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal under Irish law Depending on the circumstances, euthanasia is considered to be a casual assassination or murder and can be sentenced to life imprisonment."

Luxembourg

In March 2003, voting to legalize assisted suicide was lost by one vote (at the time, unlicensed assisted suicide, since suicide was allowed under criminal law, but someone who helped someone to commit suicide could face charges ). After failing to obtain royal approval to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, in December 2008, Luxembourg parliament changed the country's constitution to take this power from the monarchy, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Euthanasia and assisted suicide were legalized in the country in April 2009.

Netherlands

The physician-assisted suicide is legal in the same condition as euthanasia. Doctors assisted by suicide are allowed under the Act of 2001 stating the specific procedures and requirements necessary to provide such assistance. Assisted suicide in the Netherlands follows a medical model which means that only seriously ill patient doctors are allowed to make requests for assisted suicides. The Netherlands allows people over 12 to commit suicide with assistance when deemed necessary.

New Zealand

Assisted suicide is illegal in New Zealand. Under Article 179 of the Crime of Law 1961, it is illegal to 'assist and commit suicide.'

South Africa

South Africa is struggling with the debate over the legalization of euthanasia. Due to the undeveloped healthcare system covering most countries, Willem Landman, "a member of the South African Legal Commission, at a symposium on euthanasia at the World Congress of Family Doctors" stated that many South African doctors would be willing to take euthanasia action when to be legalized in this country. He feels that due to the lack of doctors in the country, "[legalize] euthanasia in South Africa would be too early and difficult to practice [...]".

On April 30, 2015, the High Court in Pretoria granted the orders of the Robin Stransham-Ford Advocate that would allow a doctor to assist him in taking his own life without the threat of prosecution. On December 6, 2016, the High Court overturned the decision of the Court of Appeal.

Switzerland

Although it is illegal to help patients in a state of dying in some circumstances, there are others where no offense is committed. The relevant provisions of the Swiss Penal Code refers to "a person who, for selfish reasons, incites a person to commit suicide or who helps him in doing so, if suicide is committed or tried, is sentenced to prison ( Zuchthaus >) up to 5 years or imprisonment ( GefÃÆ'¤ngnis ). "

A person who is brought to trial on an accusation may be able to avoid belief by proving that they are "motivated by good intentions to bring the requested death for the purpose of liberating" suffering "rather than for" selfish "reasons.In order to avoid belief, the person must prove that the deceased knows what which he does, has the capacity to make decisions, and has made a "earnest" request, which means he asks for death several times.Healthy people should also avoid actually doing actions that lead to death, lest they be punished under Article 114: Killing upon request (TÃÆ'¶tung auf Verlangen) - A person who, for a reasonable reason, especially affection, kills a person on a serious basis and an urgent request, shall be sentenced to prison (GefÃÆ'¤ngnis).For example, it must be the subject of suicide that actually pushes the syringe or takes p il, after the helper has set up the settings. In this way the state can criminalize certain controversial acts, which many of its people will oppose, while legalizing narrow relief actions for some of those seeking help to end their lives.

In July 2009, British conductor Sir Edward Downes and his wife Joan died together at a suicide clinic outside ZÃÆ'¼rich "in their own choosing circumstances". Sir Edward was not seriously ill, but his wife was diagnosed with a rapidly growing cancer.

In March 2010, the PBS FRONTLINE TV program in the United States showed a documentary film called "The Suicide Tourist" which tells the story of Professor Craig Ewert, his family, and Dignitas, and their decision to commit suicide with the help of sodium pentobarbital in Switzerland after him diagnosed and suffering from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).

In May 2011, Zurich held a referendum asking voters whether (i) assisted suicide should be banned; and (ii) whether Dignitas and other suicide support providers should not accept users abroad. Voters in Zurich strongly reject both bans, despite anti-euthanasia lobbying from two Swiss conservative social political parties, the Swiss Evangelical People's Party and the Federal Democratic Union. Direct bans proposals are rejected by eighty-four percent of voters, while seventy-eight percent choose to keep services open if overseas users need them.

In June 2011, the BBC aired a suicide assisted by Peter Smedley, a cannery owner, who suffered from motor neurone disease. Program - Book of Choosing to Die Sir Terry Pratchett - tells the story of Peter's journey to the end where he used the Dignitas Clinic, the euthanasia clinic in Switzerland, to assist him in carrying out his own taking of life. This program shows Peter eating chocolate to fight the discomfort of the liquid he drank to end his own life. Moments after drinking the liquid, Peter begged for water, panting and red, he then fell sound asleep when he snored while holding his wife's hand. A few minutes later, Peter stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating.

In Switzerland, non-physician assisted suicide is legal, most of the aid is provided by volunteers, whereas in Belgium and the Netherlands, a doctor must attend. In Switzerland, doctors are primarily there to assess the patient's decision capacity and prescribe deadly drugs. Moreover, unlike the case in the United States, a person is not required to have terminal illness but only the capacity to make a decision. Interestingly, 25% of people in Switzerland who take advantage of suicide with help do not have a deadly disease but only old or "tired of life."

Uruguay

Assisted by suicide, while criminal, does not seem to cause any belief, since article 37 of the Criminal Code (effective 1934) states: "Judges are authorized not to punish someone whose previous life has been honored where he committed murder motivated by compassion, induced by demand recurring from the victim. "

United Kingdom

English England and Wales, Northern Ireland

Deliberately helping suicide is illegal. Between 2003 and 2006 Lord Joffe made four attempts to introduce a bill that would legalize suicide with help in the UK & amp; Wales - all rejected by the British Parliament. Meanwhile, the Director of the Prosecutor has clarified the criteria under which an individual will be prosecuted in England and Wales for helping to kill another person. It has not been tested by an appeals court in 2014 Lord Falconer of Thoroton filed a Dying Assisted Bill in the House of Lords that passed Second Reading but ran out of time before the General Election. As long as his colleagues rejected two amendments proposed by Bill's opponents. In 2015, MP Labor Rob Marris introduced another bill, based on Falconer's proposal, in the House of Commons. The Second Reading is the first time the House of Representatives can vote on the issue since 1997. A Populus poll has found that 82% of the British public agree with the proposal of Lord Falconer's Assisted Dying Bill. However, in a free vote on September 11, 2015, only 118 parliamentarians supported and 330 opposed, thereby defeating the bill.

Scotland

Unlike other jurisdictions in Britain, suicide was not illegal in Scotland before 1961 (and still is not) so no related offenses were made as imitations. Depending on the true nature of any assistance provided for suicide, intentional murder or killing may be possible or there may be no violation at all; the closest modern prosecution that provides a possible comparison is where punishment of persecuted murder has been obtained when a drug addict has died accidentally after being given "hands" of non-medical assistance with an injection. Modern law concerning the aid of a person who intends to die does not have the certainty and lack of relevant law cases; this has led to efforts to introduce the law giving more certainty.

"MSP Margo MacDonald" End of Life Assistance Bill "Independent was brought to the Scottish Parliament to allow assisted suicide in January 2010. The Scottish Catholic Church and Church, the largest denomination in Scotland, opposes the bill, rejected in 85-16 ( with 2 abstentions) in December 2010.

The Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill was introduced on 13 November 2013 by the late Margo MacDonald MSP and was taken by Patrick Harvie MSP about the death of Ms. MacDonald. The bill entered the supervisory stages of the main committee in January 2015 and reached a vote in Parliament a few months later; But the bill was rejected again.

United States

Assisted deaths are legal in the states of Colorado, Hawaii, California (via the California End of Life Option Act), Oregon (via Oregon Death with Dignity Act), Washington (Washington Death with Dignity Act), and Vermont (Patient Choice) and Control in the Final Deed of Life). In Montana (through a 2009 court verdict Baxter v. Montana ), the court found no public policy to assist suicide, so consent could be presented as a defense in court. Oregon and Washington set some limits. It was briefly legal in New Mexico from 2014, but the ruling was canceled in 2015.

Oregon needs a doctor to prescribe medication but must be self-administered. In order for the patient to be eligible, the patient should be diagnosed by the attending physician as well as by the consultant physician, with terminal illnesses that will lead to individual deaths within 6 months. The law states that, to participate, the patient must: 1) 18 years or older, 2) Oregon resident, 3) be able to make and communicate health care decisions for himself, and 4) be diagnosed with terminal illnesses that will cause death in time of six months. It is up to the physician present to determine whether this criterion has been met. It takes the patient orally to ask for medication at least twice and contribute at least one (1) written request. Doctors should inform patients about alternatives; such as palliative care, home care and pain management. Lastly, doctors ask but do not require patients to tell their immediate family that they are asking for a prescription for a lethal dose of the drug. Assuming all guidelines are met and patients are deemed competent and absolutely sure they want to end their lives, the doctor will prescribe medication.

The law was passed in 1997. By 2013, a total of 1,173 people have written DWDA prescriptions and 752 patients have died from ingest medications prescribed under DWDA. By 2013, there are about 22 assisted deaths per 10,000 total deaths in Oregon.

Washington's rules and restrictions are similar, if not exactly, like Oregon. Not only do patients have to meet the above criteria, they should also be checked by not one, but two doctors are licensed in their country of residence. Both doctors must arrive at the same conclusion about the patient's prognosis. If one doctor does not see the patient in accordance with the prescription, then the patient should undergo a psychological examination to find out whether the patient is actually capable and mentally healthy to make death decisions assisted or not.

In May 2013, Vermont became the fourth country in the union to legalize medical aid in dying. House of Representatives Vermont voted 75-65 to approve the Bill, Choice of Patients and Control in the Final Deed of Life. The bill states that eligible patients should be at least 18, Vermont residents and suffer from incurable and irreversible diseases, with less than six months to live. Also, two doctors, including prescribing doctors, must make medical decisions.

In January 2014, it looked as if New Mexico had inched closer to becoming the fifth country in the United States to legalize assisted suicide through court decisions. "This court can not imagine a more fundamental, more private or more integral right to the freedom, security and happiness of a New Mexico citizen than the right of a competent patient, a severely ill patient to choose aid in death," Judge Nan G. Nash from the Second District Court in Albuquerque. The attorney general's office NM said it was studying the decision and whether to appeal to the Supreme Court of the State. However, this was canceled on August 11, 2015 by the New Mexico Appeals Court, in a 2-1 decision, which annulled the Bernalillo County District Court Judgment. The Court ruled: "We conclude that assistance in death is not a fundamental freedom under the New Mexico Constitution".

In November 2016, Colorado residents approved Proposition 106, the Colorado End of Life Options Act, with 65% support. This makes the third country to legalize medical aid-dying by popular vote, raises the total to six states.

The penalties for participating in physician-assisted deaths (PADs) vary in many states. The state of Wyoming does not "recognize common law crimes and does not have laws that specifically prohibit assisted suicide". In Florida, "anyone who deliberately helps others in self-murder will be guilty of premeditated murder, second-degree crimes".

The country is currently considering Assisted Assisted Law

Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah , dan Wisconsin.

Washington vs. Glucksberg

In Washington, physician-assisted suicide was not legal until 2008. In 1997, four Washington doctors and three severely ill patients gave birth to a lawsuit that would challenge the medical aid ban on deaths at the time. This lawsuit is the first part of a district court trial, in which he decides to support Glucksberg, which is a group of doctors and patients who are seriously ill. The suit was later confirmed by the Ninth Circuit. Thus, he was taken to the Supreme Court, and there the Supreme Court decided to give Washington a certiorari. Finally, the Supreme Court ruled, unanimously, that medical assistance in death was not a right protected under the constitution at the time of the case. Laws and arguments on this topic are often debated and modified depending on the evaluation and judgment of the law.

Brittany Maynard

A highly publicized case in the United States is Brittany Maynard's death in 2014. After being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, Maynard decided that instead of suffering from cancer side effects, he wanted to choose when he would die. She lives in California when she is diagnosed, where assisted deaths are not legal. She and her husband moved to Oregon where assisted deaths were legal, so she could take advantage of the program. Prior to his death, he initiated the funds of Brittany Maynard, which served to legalize the choice of terminating one's life in the case of a deadly disease. His public advocacy motivated his family to continue trying and getting legal aid deaths passed in all fifty states.

src: www.bioedge.org

Published research

A study approved by the Dutch Ministry of Health, the Dutch Ministry of Justice, and the Royal Netherlands Health Association reviewed efficacy in physician-assisted deaths (PADs). These studies, conducted in the Netherlands in 1990, 1991, 1995 and 1996, amounted to 649 cases of which 114 cases were physician-assisted suicides and 535 were euthanasia, suggesting complications from each category had higher frequencies in cases suicide with help rather than in the case of euthanasia. This indicates that 32% of cases have complications. This included 12% with time to death longer than expected (45 min - 14 days), 9% with the required drug delivery problem, 9% with physical symptoms (eg nausea, vomiting, myoclonus) and 2% waking from coma. In 18% of cases doctors give euthanasia because of problems or failures with PAD.

The Portland (Oregon) Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Department of Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University set out to assess the prevalence of depression in 58 patients who had selected PAD. Of the 15 patients receiving PAD, three (20%) had clinical depression. All patients participating in the study were determined first to be mentally competent. The authors conclude that "... current practice (Oregon) Death with Dignity Act may fail to protect some patients whose choice is affected by depression from receiving a prescription for a deadly drug".

In the Dutch study of patients with severe and persistent symptoms requiring sedation, the researchers found that only 9% of patients received palliative care consultation before anesthesia.

From 1990 to 1995 a group of doctors in the Netherlands interviewed and studied doctors responsible for giving end-of-life pharmaceutical patients used in assisted suicide cases. They found that from 1990 to 1995 the use of this method increased slightly as more patients turned to assisted suicide as the ultimate choice of life. From 1990 to 1995, the number of deaths due to assisted suicide methods has increased from 486 in 1990 to 1466 in 1995. When interviewing these doctors they found that 88% had been asked for life-threatening drugs and 77% reported that they had asked for drugs at a certain time. They also found there were a number of doctors who were equal to about 0.7% who had given their patients life-sustaining drugs without explicit consent of the patient.

Resources for further reading

Source of the article : Wikipedia