International News

International News

UNITED KINGDOM - In November 2003, it is announced that a new Parliamentary select committee will be established to investigate fully, a policy of assisted dying. The committee's findings will have a profound impact on the future legality of this policy for Britain.

In June 2003, the Patient (Assisted Dying) Bill, introduced by Lord Joffe, received a second reading in Parliament. The measure was debated for seven hours, and more than 50 people addressed the issue. Lord Joffe's bill would allow hastened dying for competent, terminally ill individuals.

On April 29, 2002 the European Court of Human Rights rejected Diane Pretty's appeal of a decision by the British House of Lords. Britain's highest court ruled that Pretty's husband could not legally assist her in hastening her death. Pretty, 43, had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), known in the U.S. as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." The disease had paralyzed her and made it impossible for Pretty to hasten her own death. Her attorneys argued that current law infringed on Pretty's human rights by subjecting her to degrading treatment (a frightening and painful death) and failed to respect her privacy. Pretty died on May 11, 2002 in a hospice center.

ISLE OF MAN - In May 2003, the parliament voted to establish a committee to investigate the legalization of euthanasia. The committee is expected to spend at least one year collecting evidence and hearing testimony from both sides of the debate, before drafting legislation. The Isle of Man, a UK crown dependency, located 70 miles off the western coast of England, has approximately 80,000 residents and is free to introduce laws without interference from the British government.

LUXEMBOURG - On March 12, 2003, the Parliament voted on a measure that would have legalized voluntary euthanasia. It was narrowly defeated, 28 to 27.

THE NETHERLANDS - December 24, 2002 - the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that that a physician, who hastened the death of a patient who was not terminally ill, had acted illegally. This decision confirmed that only a patient who has a terminal physical illness may act under the Netherlands' assisted dying law, and that mental anguish does not constitute "unbearable suffering."

On April 1, 2002, the Netherlands became the first country to legalize physician assisted dying and voluntary euthanasia. The law formalized practices used in Dutch hospitals and homes for decades, turning guidelines adopted by Parliament in 1993 into legally binding requirements. Requirements of the law include that patients must be experiencing irremediable and unbearable suffering, be aware of all other medical options, and have sought a second medical opinion, and that requests for hastened death must be made voluntarily and persistently while the patient is of sound mind.

Additionally, the Dutch government has commissioned studies on "medical decisions concerning the end of life."

GUERNSEY - On September 26, 2002, the governing body of Guernsey, a country of 63,000, located in the Channel Islands off Britain's coast, voted 38-17 to study physician assisted dying and voluntary euthanasia. According to press reports, the Guernsey Board of Health and Advisory and Finance Committee advised legislators to vote for the study only if they favor changing right to die laws. Guernsey is a semi-autonomous part of the United Kingdom; its laws must be approved by Britain's Privy Council.

BELGIUM - On September 23, 2002, Belgium became the second country to legalize voluntary euthanasia. To be eligible under the law, patients must be incurably ill, in constant suffering, and of sound mind. Additionally, patients must be at least 18 years old and make specific, voluntary, and repeated requests for hastened death. Each hastened death is registered with a federal commission.

SWITZERLAND - December 11, 2001, the Swiss National Council voted against two measures, one attempting to expand the practice of hastening death and a second to restrict it. The Council later passed a motion requiring the government to propose legislation creating legal guidelines for assisted dying. Swiss law does not prohibit hastening the death of another, unless the act is done for "selfish" reasons. Voluntary euthanasia is illegal in Switzerland.

FRANCE - On April 15, 2001, France's health minister, Dr. Bernard Kouchner, said that he planned to bring together health care specialists and ethics experts to discuss assisted dying and voluntary euthanasia. Moved to action by the Netherlands' passage of right to die legislation and a French poll indicating 88%support for assisted dying, Kouchner indicated he would press for legislation that creates "an alternative to unending pain and misery."

AUSTRALIA - In March, 2001, state legislators in South Australia introduced right to die legislation in both houses of Parliament. Australia's Northern Territory enacted a right to die law in 1996 but it was revoked in 1997 by the federal parliament.

COLOMBIA - In May 1997, Colombia's Constitutional Court (the highest court in the country) ruled that it is not a crime to help a terminally ill person die if they have given clear and precise consent. Legal regulations for the process have yet to pass the Colombian parliament.

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