Law & Medicine
LLBP3029
Research Paper
Physician Assisted Suicide
Is it Time for English Law to Legalise Physician-Assisted Suicide?
, Introduction
The subject of medicalised deaths has been a consistent feature of intense debates and
discourses in law and medicine.1 Particularly, these discussions have been concerned with the
moral and legal status of the practice. 2 Legislation has legalised assisted suicide in the
Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, several US states, Canada, and Switzerland. 3 However,
physician-assisted suicide remains illegal in the United Kingdom, leading to vehement
campaigns on the need to change the law and decriminalise assisted suicide. 4 This research
paper re-evaluates the UK’s current legal position regarding physician-assisted suicide.
An Understanding of Physician-Assisted Suicide
Physician-assisted suicide occurs when a doctor deliberately assists a person in killing
themselves.5 Hence, if a doctor is aware that a patient with terminal illness wants to commit
suicide and knowingly provides the patient with strong sedatives, the doctor has assisted the
person’s suicide.6 The passivity of the physician in the assisted dying relation is what
separates physician-assisted suicide from similar practices like physician-accomplished
suicide or active voluntary euthanasia. 7 Patients seek assisted suicide because of intense
1
The Commission on Assisted Dying, ‘“The current legal status of assisted dying is inadequate and
incoherent...”’ (Demos 2011) 37
2
N. Richards, ‘Assisted suicide as a remedy for suffering? The end-of-life preferences of British “suicide
tourists”’ (2017) 36(4) Medical Anthropology 348, 348; E. Jackson, Medical Law: Text, Cases, and Materials
(Oxford University Press 2016) 913
3
Richards (n2) 348.; The Commission on Assisted Dying (n1) 64
4
The Commission on Assisted Dying (n1) 37
5
G. T. Laurie et al. Mason and McCall Smith's Law and Medical Ethics (Oxford University Press 2016)
para.18.68
6
M. Dees et al., ‘‘Unbearable suffering’: A qualitative study on the perspectives of patients who request
assistance in dying’ (2011) 37 Journal of Medical Ethics 727.; R. A. Pearlman et al., ‘Motivations for physician-
assisted suicide: Patient and family voices’ (2005) 20 Journal of General Internal Medicine 234.
7
Laurie et al. (n5) para.18.68
1
LLBP3029
Research Paper
Physician Assisted Suicide
Is it Time for English Law to Legalise Physician-Assisted Suicide?
, Introduction
The subject of medicalised deaths has been a consistent feature of intense debates and
discourses in law and medicine.1 Particularly, these discussions have been concerned with the
moral and legal status of the practice. 2 Legislation has legalised assisted suicide in the
Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, several US states, Canada, and Switzerland. 3 However,
physician-assisted suicide remains illegal in the United Kingdom, leading to vehement
campaigns on the need to change the law and decriminalise assisted suicide. 4 This research
paper re-evaluates the UK’s current legal position regarding physician-assisted suicide.
An Understanding of Physician-Assisted Suicide
Physician-assisted suicide occurs when a doctor deliberately assists a person in killing
themselves.5 Hence, if a doctor is aware that a patient with terminal illness wants to commit
suicide and knowingly provides the patient with strong sedatives, the doctor has assisted the
person’s suicide.6 The passivity of the physician in the assisted dying relation is what
separates physician-assisted suicide from similar practices like physician-accomplished
suicide or active voluntary euthanasia. 7 Patients seek assisted suicide because of intense
1
The Commission on Assisted Dying, ‘“The current legal status of assisted dying is inadequate and
incoherent...”’ (Demos 2011) 37
2
N. Richards, ‘Assisted suicide as a remedy for suffering? The end-of-life preferences of British “suicide
tourists”’ (2017) 36(4) Medical Anthropology 348, 348; E. Jackson, Medical Law: Text, Cases, and Materials
(Oxford University Press 2016) 913
3
Richards (n2) 348.; The Commission on Assisted Dying (n1) 64
4
The Commission on Assisted Dying (n1) 37
5
G. T. Laurie et al. Mason and McCall Smith's Law and Medical Ethics (Oxford University Press 2016)
para.18.68
6
M. Dees et al., ‘‘Unbearable suffering’: A qualitative study on the perspectives of patients who request
assistance in dying’ (2011) 37 Journal of Medical Ethics 727.; R. A. Pearlman et al., ‘Motivations for physician-
assisted suicide: Patient and family voices’ (2005) 20 Journal of General Internal Medicine 234.
7
Laurie et al. (n5) para.18.68
1
