• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Monday, June 23, 2025
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

Euthanasia: Where It’s Legal in Europe

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
04/08/21
in Featured, Lifestyle, World
Pro-life" protesters, who support the resumption of life support

Pro-life" protesters, who support the resumption of life support for quadriplegic Vincent Lambert, outside the Ministry of Health in Paris, May 20, 2019. Photo: Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

As France’s parliament prepares to debate a controversial law which would allow euthanasia for those with terminal illnesses, here is a round-up of the situation in Europe.

Fully legal

The Netherlands legalized active and direct euthanasia in 2002. Lethal doses of drugs are authorized if patients request them while lucid. 

They must also be experiencing unbearable suffering from a condition diagnosed as incurable by at least two doctors.

Last year the country’s highest court ruled that doctors will be able to conduct assisted suicides on patients with severe dementia without fear of prosecution, even if the patient no longer expressed an explicit wish to die.  

The Netherlands also moved towards making euthanasia legal for terminally ill children aged between one and 12.

Belgium lifted restrictions on euthanasia in 2002 for patients facing constant, unbearable and untreatable physical or psychological suffering. 

They must be aged 18 or over and request termination of life in a voluntary, reasoned and repeated manner, free from coercion.

In 2014 Belgium became the first country to authorize children to request euthanasia if they suffer a terminal disease and understand the consequences of the act.  

In neighboring Luxembourg a text legalizing euthanasia in certain terminal cases was approved in 2009. It excludes minors.

Spanish MPs voted through a law allowing euthanasia in March under strict conditions so that terminally ill or gravely injured patients can end their suffering. It comes into force in June.

Swiss exception

Switzerland is one of the rare countries that allows assisted suicide with patients administering a lethal dose of medication themselves. It does not allow active, direct euthanasia by a third party but tolerates the provision of substances to relieve suffering, even if death is a consequence.

Portugal

Last month Portugal’s top court rejected a law decriminalizing euthanasia that had been approved by parliament in January.

The bill, which would have legalized access to assisted suicide for adult patients in a situation of “extreme suffering and irreversible damage”, now goes back to parliament for possible amendment.

A halt of treatment, however, is allowed in certain desperate cases.

Italian compromise

Italy’s Constitutional Court ruled in 2019 that it was not always a crime to help someone in “intolerable suffering” commit suicide.

Halting medical procedures that maintain life, called passive euthanasia, is also tolerated.

‘Right to die’

In France a 2005 law legalized passive euthanasia as a “right to die”. A 2016 law allows doctors to couple this with “deep and continuous sedation” for terminally ill patients, while keeping euthanasia and assisted suicide illegal up to now. 

A debate on “free and chosen” euthanasia for incurably ill patients in France’s lower house on Thursday faces 3,000 amendments and is far from sure of passage.

Sweden authorized passive euthanasia in 2010 and Ireland also recognizes the “right to die”.

Britain has allowed medical personnel to halt life-preserving treatment in certain cases since 2002. Prosecution of those who have helped close relatives to die after they have clearly expressed the desire to end their lives has receded since 2010.

In Austria and Germany, passive euthanasia is permitted if requested by the patient.

Austria’s constitutional court ruled in October the country was violating fundamental rights in making assisted suicide illegal and ordered the government to lift the ban in 2021.

Refusing treatment

Denmark has allowed people to file written refusal of excessive treatment in dire situations since 1992, with the document held in a centralized register.

In Norway passive euthanasia is permitted if requested by the patient or by a relative, if the patient is unconscious.

In Hungary people with incurable diseases can refuse treatment.

It is also legal to end treatment of terminally ill people in Lithuania and Latvia.

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Emmanuel Macron
World

France to Remember Charlie Hebdo Attacks 10 Years On

by Staff Writer with AFP
January 6, 2025
Emmanuel Macron
World

Macron Calls for ‘Ruthless’ Govt Response After Teacher Killed

by Staff Writer
October 16, 2023
A woman checks the website of Israel-made Pegasus spyware
World

European Companies Sold Spyware to Despots: Media

by Staff Writer
October 6, 2023
Air France flights
World

Niger Bans French Aircraft From Its Airspace: Aviation Authority 

by Staff Writer
September 25, 2023
Man holding up a colored LGBT flag
World

France Sets Up Embassy Fund to Defend LGBTQ Rights

by Staff Writer
September 19, 2023
migrants
Refugees

Migrant Channel Crossings Top 100,000 Since 2018: UK Data

by Staff Writer
August 11, 2023
Next Post
The US has seen a surge in anti-Asian violence in the past year, which activists have blamed on former President Donald Trump's rhetoric.

'Being Asian Here is Terrifying': Korean Gamer Describes Racism in US

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson delivers a speech, 2016

The Hippocratic Oath Stops at the Arkansas Border

Recommended

An Iranian protester

Iran’s Nuclear Program: From Its Origins to Today’s Dispute

June 23, 2025
Protesters and police clash during the “No Kings” protest in Los Angeles, California on June 14, 2025.

US Appeals Court Allows Trump Control of National Guard in LA

June 20, 2025
Donald Trump

Fact vs. Fiction: The Trump Administration’s Dubious War on Reverse Discrimination

June 18, 2025
Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptors light up the sky over Beirut, Lebanon, on June 14, 2025. Iran launched multiple missiles toward Israeli targets, triggering interception attempts above several regional capitals, including Beirut.

Israel-Iran Conflict: Latest Developments

June 18, 2025
Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
An Iranian walking in front of a wall painting of the Iranian flag in Tehran

How Much Damage Has Israel Inflicted on Iran’s Nuclear Program?

June 16, 2025

Opinion

Donald Trump

Fact vs. Fiction: The Trump Administration’s Dubious War on Reverse Discrimination

June 18, 2025
Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
A Black Lives Matter mural in New York City.

Fuhgeddaboudit! America’s Erasure of History

April 2, 2025
Bust of Deputy Rubens Paiva in the Chamber of Deputies

Democratic Brazilians Are Still Here

March 18, 2025
A woman from Guatemala

Dispatch From Central America

January 28, 2025
US President Donald Trump

Dear Trump Supporters: Is This the America You Wanted?

January 28, 2025
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post