From Canada to the Netherlands, euthanasia kills without consent
An overview of Western countries that have approved or are discussing laws in favor of euthanasia and assisted suicide. The illusion of "freedom": In one year, 517 people euthanized in the Netherlands did not give their consent.
The spread of euthanasia in the Western world continues unabated. Last Friday, July 18, Slovenia passed a law allowing assisted suicide, joining a growing number of countries that recognize the right to end one's life: Australia (legal in all states and, as of the end of 2025, the Northern Territory), New Zealand (2021), Canada (2016), Luxembourg (2009), Belgium, and the Netherlands (2002) are among the countries that have legalized assisted suicide, as have some U.S. states. In Italy, the Law 219/2017 on DAT was passed. Unfortunately, even in other Western countries the so-called right to die has become part of their legal systems.
Spain legalized euthanasia on June 25, 2021, following Parliament's final approval on March 18, 2021, of the decriminalization of "medical assistance in dying." In January 2022, Austria enacted a new law establishing the right of seriously ill people to decide the timing of their death, i.e., to voluntarily end their suffering.
Currently, Portugal has no law on euthanasia after the president rightly refused to sign the text approved by parliament several times, referring it to the Constitutional Court. Last month, the British Parliament voted in favor of legalizing assisted dying through the House of Commons; the bill still has to be approved by the House of Lords. On May 27, the lower house of the French parliament adopted a bill strongly supported by President Emmanuel Macron. The bill will allow adults with so-called "incurable" diseases to voluntarily end their lives by taking a lethal substance prescribed by doctors. The Senate will discuss and vote on the measure in September.
In Malta, at the beginning of 2025, the debate on euthanasia and assisted suicide began: public contributions to the discussion are currently being collected. On June 16, the Parliamentary Secretary for Reform and Equality, Rebecca Buttigieg, confirmed this in Parliament and reported on three public meetings on euthanasia held in recent weeks. In Cyprus, where assisted suicide and euthanasia have been under discussion since 2023, parliament plans to vote on legalizing euthanasia in January 2026. The House Human Rights Committee will begin examining the relevant bill in September. In Ireland, the government is expected to present its proposal to legalize assisted dying in certain limited circumstances within the current year, following the October 2024 approval of a commission's final report calling for such legislation. The proposal will then have to be approved by the Oireachtas (the Irish parliament) and signed by the president.
Data on the slippery slope caused by the decriminalization of various forms of assisted suicide and euthanasia are clear and growing worldwide. Two recent examples can be found in the application of Spanish and Dutch laws.
In Spain, thousands of people have obtained help to die since the euthanasia law took effect four years ago. While 1,034 euthanasia cases were carried out last year, according to the association Derecho a Morir Dignamente (Right to Die with Dignity), more than 1,300 cases have already been carried out in 2025 alone, with over 40% of requests for assistance in dying being approved. The slippery slope of gradually loosening regulations and expanding the pool of people—even those who are temporarily ill or maladjusted—who are invited, induced, or accompanied to commit suicide or consent to be killed exceeds the established limit every time.
The Netherlands is setting a negative example. A five-year study commissioned by the government investigated deaths resulting from end-of-life medical decisions. In 2021 alone, 517 people who had not explicitly requested or consented to euthanasia were killed by it in the Netherlands. These cases are classified under the acronym LAWER (Life-ending Acts Without Explicit Request). In essence, it is a practice that, once the verbal hypocrisy is removed, can be defined by one word: murder. This contagious trend is already underway in Canada and will inevitably spread wherever legislation favors assisted suicide, euthanasia, and consensual murder.
