Assisted suicide after the Lords’ decision in Purdy v DPP [2009] UKHL 45 remains a criminal offence under section 2(1) of the Suicide Act 1961. Whether the assisted suicide itself takes place within or outside the UK, assistance provided within the UK could be the subject of criminal prosecution. Any such prosecution would need the consent of the DPP. The House of Lords has asked the DPP to produce a policy structuring the discretion he exercises when deciding whether to consent to such a prosecution.
The term “physician-assisted suicide” usefully identifies a practice that is, and should be, a source of considerable controversy these days. Typically, the practice in question involves two crucial actors: a doctor and a terminally ill patient whose death is likely to occur within a short time. Knowing the condition of the patient and responding to the patient’s request, the doctor prescribes a drug that should cause the patient’s death shortly after it is taken. That’s the “physician-assisted” half of the practice. The “suicide” occurs, if it ever does, shortly after the patient ingests the drug. Physician-assisted suicide is legal in Oregon and Washington. Until very recently, it has been illegal in every other state, and claims to its being a federal constitutional right were rejected by the United States Supreme Court a dozen years ago in the Glucksberg and Quill decisions.1 But a recent development in Montana has altered the landscape somewhat. On December 31 of last year, the M