European countries that allow assisted dying

PARIS, November 27, 2024 (BSS/AFP) – British lawmakers will on Friday debate a new bill to legalize assisted dying in England and Wales, which has raised concerns among opponents about its consequences.

In Europe, several countries already allow terminally ill people to receive help to end their lives.

Here is a summary of the situation on the continent:

– Euthanasia: Dutch first –

In 2002, the Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize active euthanasia, which involves doctors administering lethal doses of drugs to patients suffering from an incurable disease.

It also legalized assisted suicide, under which patients can receive help in voluntarily taking their own lives.

Dutch law stated that the patient must be in “unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement” and must ask for death “voluntarily, thoughtfully and with full conviction.”

In 2012, the Netherlands extended the law to allow euthanasia for severely suffering people over the age of 12, provided they have parental consent, and in 2020 to patients with severe dementia if the patient requested the procedure while still mentally competent.

After years of debate, the Dutch government also approved euthanasia for children under 12 in 2023, allowing mercy death for young minors suffering “unbearably and without hope.”

– Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal –

Belgium was the second country to adopt euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2002, with similar reservations for the Dutch.

In 2014, it went further, allowing terminally ill children of all ages to undergo the procedure also with their parents’ consent.

Another Benelux country, Luxembourg, decriminalized euthanasia and assisted dying in 2009.

Spain in 2021 allowed euthanasia and medically assisted suicide for people with a serious and incurable disease, and in 2023 Portugal allowed euthanasia and medically assisted suicide. In the latter case, the act has not yet entered into force.

– Assisted Dying: Destination Switzerland –

Switzerland, which bans euthanasia, has allowed assisted suicide for decades, making it a favorite destination for patients across Europe seeking help to end their suffering.

The development of the so-called “suicide tourism” caused a lot of rethinking in Switzerland, but in 2011 the authorities decided not to restrict this practice.

Neighboring Austria, a staunchly Catholic nation, also legalized assisted suicide in 2022 after the Constitutional Court ruled the country was violating citizens’ fundamental rights by declaring it illegal.

In Italy, where assisted dying is illegal, the Constitutional Court allowed an exception in 2019, ruling that helping someone suffering from “unbearable” physical or mental suffering commit suicide should not always be punishable by law.