Assisted suicide deaths worldwide surpass 30,000 a year
From: Catholic Herald.
Doctors intervened to assist more than 30,000 people to die last year around the world, marking a record high for cases of assisted suicide/dying and euthanasia in countries where the practises are legal.
The findings come from a data analysis report conducted by the Daily Telegraph ahead of a UK vote on legalising assisted dying on Friday, 29 November, when the Second Reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is scheduled in Parliament.
The most notable increases across the globe have been recorded in countries where assisted suicide/dying and euthanasia have been made legal, after changes to the law, including the Netherlands, Belgium, the US states of California and Oregon, and Canada.
As many as one in 20 deaths are now attributable to assisted dying in some countries, according to the Telegraph’s analysis, with deaths from euthanasia/assisted dying in Europe and Canada having leapt by almost 25 per cent in just 12 months, according to another report.
Assisted suicide/dying involves giving patients the means to end their own life, usually in the form of lethal drugs, while euthanasia is carried out by a doctor, usually involving a lethal injection.
Even though legislation was passed in some countries decades ago, the numbers of relatable deaths are still rising, partly because the initially strict rules have been subsequently loosened and the procedures made more widely available, including to children, the Telegraph notes.
This sort of “mission creep” occurring is one of the main fears of critics – especially the Catholic Church – of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill that, if passed, will apply to England and Wales. A similar bill is being debated in Scotland.
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