New review: Assisted suicide becomes ‘routine’ if legalised

The Christian Institute 20 August 2015
A new review of a wide range of evidence on assisted suicide has revealed that the practice becomes more widespread and more routine in places where the law has been changed.

The guide, produced by the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, links directly to official data from the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Oregon and Washington, as well as UK parliamentary reports and journal research.

It says there are “common patterns” emerging from places where assisted suicide has been legalised.

‘Supposed safeguards’
The report notes that “in every jurisdiction numbers have increased over time and continue to do so; there has also been a shift from permitting assisted suicide for cancer victims to include other diseases”.

The review says that in Europe, this includes psychiatric conditions and problems related to old age, which are non-terminal.

“Supposed safeguards such as psychiatric referral have also declined in frequency”, the review says.

The guide highlights polling on assisted suicide, which appears to show huge support – but this is highly variable “depending on the words used”.
http://www.christian.org.uk/news/new-review-assisted-suicide-becomes-routine-if-legalised/