According to official figures, fewer than 200 people have opted for euthanasia in Colombia since 1997. The legislation has sparked a fierce debate about the “right to suicide” because assisted suicide is still illegal outside the criteria for euthanasia and counts as murder. Active euthanasia is illegal in the UK. Anyone who assists in suicide is breaking the law and may be found guilty of aiding and abetting suicide or attempting suicide. [106] [107] [108] Between 2003 and 2006, Lord Joffe made four attempts to introduce bills legalizing voluntary euthanasia – all of which were rejected by the British Parliament. [109] Currently, Dr. Nigel Cox is the only British doctor convicted of attempted euthanasia. In 1992, he was given a 12-month suspended sentence. [110] Efforts to change government policy on euthanasia of people in the 20th and 21st centuries. Century had limited success in Western countries. Human euthanasia policies have also been developed by various NGOs, including medical associations and advocacy groups. Since March 2018, active human euthanasia has been legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia[1], Luxembourg, Western Australia and Canada.
[2] Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, Germany, Victoria, Australia, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Hawaii, Vermont, Maine[3], New Jersey[4], California[5] and the District of Columbia. [6] Active euthanasia is not legal in Finland. However, passive euthanasia is legal. [42] Euthanasia is strictly prohibited in Turkey. Assisting a person to commit suicide or commit suicide shall be punished for complicity in suicide in accordance with Article 84 of the Turkish Penal Code. Subject to active euthanasia, article 81 of the same law stipulates that any person who commits this act is sentenced to life imprisonment and punished for simple murder. On 20 February 2020, the Portuguese Parliament voted in favour of a draft introduction of laws on voluntary euthanasia. [98] In July 2013, French President François Hollande declared his personal support for the decriminalization of voluntary euthanasia in France, which had been one of his campaign promises during the presidential campaign (“introduction of the right to die with dignity”), despite objections from the French National Consultative Committee on Ethics, which denounced “abuses” in neighboring jurisdictions, which were either voluntary euthanasia or medical assistance in dying (Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). More socially conservative members of the Catholic Church and other major religious groups in France had announced that their next goal, after speaking out against the introduction of same-sex marriage in France, could be the possible decriminalization of voluntary euthanasia. [43] The Belgian Parliament legalised euthanasia on 28 May 2002. [13] [14] On February 20, 2008, the country`s parliament passed a law legalizing euthanasia at first reading with 30 votes out of 59. On 19 March 2009, the bill was adopted at second reading, making Luxembourg the third country in the European Union to decriminalise euthanasia, after the Netherlands and Belgium.
Patients with incurable diseases have the option of euthanasia after obtaining the approval of two doctors and a panel of experts. [71] But he adds: One of the main reasons for requesting euthanasia is fear of dying. So, if patients are confident that a doctor will not refuse euthanasia at a later date, it can be very reassuring and give them the strength to move on. Passive euthanasia was deemed legal after a landmark court ruling in 2010. This means that a medical professional can legally stop the maintenance of vital functions at the request of a patient if he understands the consequences stated by his doctor, and the administration of a lethal substance is also illegal. [104] In a 1997 decision 6-3, Colombia`s Constitutional Court ruled that “no one can be held criminally responsible for taking the life of a terminally ill patient who has given clear permission to do so,” according to the Washington Post.[36] The court defined “terminally ill” people as those with diseases such as “cancer, AIDS and renal or hepatic failure when incurable and the cause of extreme suffering”. the Post reported. The decision explicitly rejected euthanasia for people with degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer`s disease, Parkinson`s disease or Lou Gehrig. On 15 December 2014, the Constitutional Court gave the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare 30 days to issue guidelines for the health sector to guarantee the right to a dignified death for dismissed sick patients who wish to undergo euthanasia. [37] Voluntary active euthanasia, called “medical assistance in dying,” is legal in Canada for anyone over the age of 18 with an incurable disease that has progressed to the point where natural death is “reasonably foreseeable.” To prevent suicidal tourism, only those eligible for Canadian health insurance are allowed to use it.