Other (Benelux)

Some countries have laws that allow people who are not terminally ill to receive assistance to die. Sometimes this is through prescribing life-ending medication to people (assisted suicide) or through doctors actively ending the lives of people who ask them to do so (euthanasia).

The legislation that we support is not based on the laws below.

The Netherlands

In the Netherlands, people who have an incurable condition, face unbearable suffering and are mentally competent may be eligible for voluntary euthanasia or assisted dying. There are about 3,500 cases of assisted dying or voluntary euthanasia a year in the Netherlands.

Belgium

The Belgian Act on Euthanasia was passed in May 2002. The law allows adults who are in a “futile medical condition of constant and unbearable physical or mental suffering that cannot be alleviated” to request voluntary euthanasia.

Luxembourg

In February 2008, the Luxembourg Parliament approved a Law on the Right to Die with Dignity. This allows a person who is suffering unbearably from an illness, and is mentally competent, to request medical assistance to die.