Record 30,000 choose assisted death as rules loosen


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In 2023, assisted dying and euthanasia claimed the lives of 30,000 individuals, marking the highest recorded number to date, with expectations of continued growth in these numbers.

The United Kingdom’s upcoming Friday vote on assisted dying legislation comes as statistics reveal such deaths have doubled within a five-year span.

This upward trend is consistent across all regions where these practices are permitted, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, and American states like Oregon and California.

These end-of-life options differ significantly: assisted dying enables patients to self-administer life-ending medication, while euthanasia involves direct physician intervention through lethal injection.

“While legislation was passed in some countries decades ago, numbers are still rising in part because initially strict rules have been watered down and the procedures made more widely available, including to children,” The Telegraph noted.

The proposed UK legislation would permit terminally ill adults aged 18 and over to receive assistance in ending their lives, requiring them to self-administer the lethal substance prepared by a physician.

The process mandates approval from two independent physicians and a judge, who must verify the patient’s clear, informed, and autonomous decision to die within six months.

Opposition groups warn of potential consequences, including increased death rates and eventual erosion of safeguards.

“Dr Gordon MacDonald, the chief executive of Care Not Killing, said: ‘These figures show once you legalize assisted suicide or euthanasia, the numbers of those being killed and the reasons why, only ever go in one direction. Just look at Canada’.

‘It’s not just Canada where we see problems. In the Netherlands and Belgium, we have seen a massive expansion of who can be euthanized. Chillingly, this includes non-mentally competent adults, people with mental health problems and even young children and disabled babies’.

‘In Oregon, the model for the legislation which is being debated in the House of Commons, arthritis, diabetes and anorexia are all considered terminal conditions and people with them have successfully obtained the death row drugs from the state to kill themselves’.”

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