This list, as BBC notes, is quite short: in five countries, it is allowed to provide patients with drugs with which they can end their lives, and in several others euthanasia is fully legalized and doctors are permitted in certain circumstances to administer the lethal cocktail themselves.
NETHERLANDS
In 2002, the Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia. In addition, assisted suicide is no longer prosecuted by law. However, euthanasia is subject to a strict set of conditions: the patient must suffer from an incurable disease, experience 'unbearable' pain, and have no chance of recovery. He or she must express the desire to die while of sound mind and persist in this request over a certain period of time.
The 'Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures) Act' came into effect in April 2002. Doctors from the Christian Medical Association claim that after the adoption of this law, the number of voluntary deaths 'spiraled out of control.' By 2015, the increase was about 15%, amounting to nearly 5,000 cases.
However, this statement is contradicted by a scientific study whose results were published in the British medical journal The Lancet in 2012. It claims that the number of people who voluntarily ended their lives after the adoption of the new law remained the same as before its introduction.
The most controversial aspect of the Dutch law is the age limits: it applies to patients from age 12 (however, terminally ill children aged 12 to 16 require parental consent).
SWITZERLAND
Switzerland is perhaps the most famous country where the right to die is enshrined in law. This is partly due to the Dignitas clinic, where for a fee, terminally ill people are helped to end their lives. It has become a last resort for many foreigners wanting to die without pain and with dignity.
Swiss law allows 'assisted suicide' in cases where the 'assistant has no selfish motives.' Criminal legislation in effect since 1942 penalizes assisted suicide only if the patient is persuaded to end their life, for example, to relieve the burden of care, avoid paying for care and treatment, or obtain an inheritance sooner. If none of the above can be proven, no criminal case is opened.
To avoid criminal liability, the person assisting the patient must prove that the patient knew what he was doing and expressed this desire several times over a certain period of time. At the same time, euthanasia as such, i.e., when the patient does not take the lethal cocktail himself but is injected or given the drug by a doctor or relative, is illegal.
BELGIUM
In 2002, Belgium followed the Netherlands in adopting a law legalizing euthanasia. According to the 'Euthanasia Act,' doctors can help patients die only if they have been treating them for a long time. Patients must be Belgian citizens and permanent residents of the country.
Patients must be in a 'medically hopeless state and suffer constant unbearable physical or mental pain that cannot be alleviated.' Also, a patient who knows that they will soon fall into a vegetative state can express a wish that their life not be artificially sustained in that state. The doctor must be present at the bedside until 'the very last breath.'
In February 2012, Belgium became the first country to legalize euthanasia for children: unlike the Netherlands, the law does not specify a minimum age at which patients can request death.
UNITED STATES
In the United States, the issue of whether to allow assisted suicide is left to individual states. As a result, it has been permitted in four states, but overall it remains illegal nationwide.
Oregon doctors have had the right to prescribe drugs that help terminally ill patients end their lives since 1997. Oregon became the first state to allow assisted suicide by adopting a law called the 'Death with Dignity Act.' Patients must be of sound mind and memory and be over 18 years old. Doctors must determine that the person has no more than six months to live. Patients must twice express the desire to die in the presence of an independent witness.
In 2014, Oregon made headlines after a 29-year-old woman named Brittany Maynard, suffering from an incurable form of brain cancer, moved to the state to die. Later, assisted suicide was legally permitted in the states of Washington, Vermont, and Montana.
New Mexico legislators overturned the state supreme court's decision allowing assisted suicide, and the bill is currently under legal review.
OTHER COUNTRIES
In Luxembourg, euthanasia and assisted suicide have been allowed since 2009. The legislation is similar to that adopted in Belgium. It emphasizes 'the right of doctors to freedom of conscience.'
In Colombia, the first case of assisted suicide was approved in July of this year. The Ministry of Health decided to support the request of 79-year-old Ovidio Gonzalez, who was suffering from a terminal form of cancer.
In Germany, doctors are currently not allowed to prescribe drugs that help end life. However, this issue is currently undergoing legal review. It is expected that a new law may be passed by the Bundestag as early as November.
A similar situation has developed in Canada's French-speaking province of Quebec. The National Assembly has already passed a law allowing the use of sedatives and medical assistance in dying. It is to come into force in December of this year.
What would have happened in England and Wales if the new law had been passed? The law proposed prescribing a lethal dose of medication to patients with no more than six months to live. Two doctors and a Supreme Court judge would have had to give their official consent to help the patient die. They would have had to verify that the patient was of sound mind and firm memory, that he or she indeed had no more than six months to live, and that he or she was well informed about palliative care options. Thus, assisted suicide would have been illegal for people not suffering from terminal illnesses or for the mentally ill.
The patient would have had to take the lethal dose of medication on his or her own. Doctors would not have been allowed to administer it themselves—in that case, their actions would legally have been classified as euthanasia rather than assisted suicide, which was not permitted even by the proposed, now rejected, bill.