Legality of euthanasia

This article includes inline citations, but they are not properly formatted. Please improve this article by correcting them. (August 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The legality of euthanasia varies between countries and territories. Efforts to change government policies on euthanasia of humans in the 20th and 21st centuries have met with limited success in Western countries. Human euthanasia policies have also been developed by a variety of NGOs, most advocacy organisations although medical associations express a range of perspectives, and supporters of palliative care broadly oppose euthanasia.

As of 2024^[update], euthanasia is legal in Belgium,^[1] Canada,^[2] Colombia,^[3] Ecuador, Luxembourg,^[4][5] the Netherlands,^[6][7] New Zealand,^[8] Portugal (law not yet in force, awaiting regulation),^{[9][note 1]} Spain^[10][11] and all six states of Australia (New South Wales,^[12] Queensland,^[13] South Australia,^[14] Tasmania,^[15] Victoria^[16] and Western Australia^[17]). Euthanasia was briefly legal in Australia's Northern Territory in 1996 and 1997 but was overturned by a federal law. In 2021, a Peruvian court allowed euthanasia for a single person, Ana Estrada.^[18] Eligibility for euthanasia varies across jurisdictions where it is legal, with some countries allowing euthanasia for mental illness.^[19]

Euthanasia is distinct from assisted suicide, which may be legal in certain other jurisdictions.

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).