Topics / Life, death and morality
Should assisted dying be legal?
Should the law allow adults, under defined conditions, to receive medical help to end their own lives, and if so, who should be eligible? The debate turns on how to weigh individual autonomy and the relief of suffering against the protection of people who may be vulnerable to pressure. Evidence from jurisdictions where assisted dying is legal informs the debate but does not settle it.
Positions
- Yes, for terminally ill adults with capacity: Terminally ill adults with mental capacity should have the legal option of medical help to end their lives at a time of their choosing, within strict safeguards, rather than being forced to endure a death they find unbearable.
- Yes, more broadly, including unbearable non-terminal suffering: What should matter is how severe and irremediable a person's suffering is, not how long they have left to live. Adults with capacity whose suffering from a serious, incurable condition is unbearable and cannot be relieved should be able to request assisted dying, with careful case-by-case assessment.
- No: Assisted dying should remain illegal because no safeguards can fully protect vulnerable people from overt or self-imposed pressure to die, eligibility tends to widen once the principle is accepted, and the priority should be universal access to high-quality palliative and social care.