assisted suicide

noun

Definition of assisted suicide

: suicide committed by someone with assistance from another person especially : physician-assisted suicide

Examples of assisted suicide in a Sentence

a doctor who has been involved in several assisted suicides an opponent of assisted suicide

Recent Examples on the Web The new law offers two voluntary methods of permitting a person to end their life, which are euthanasia and assisted suicide. — Kaelan Deese, Washington Examiner, "Spain becomes seventh country to approve euthanasia," 18 Mar. 2021 The law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2019, making Hawaii the seventh U.S. jurisdiction to legalize physician assisted suicide under the Our Care, Our Choice Act. — Mckenzie Sadeghi, USA TODAY, "Fact check: Posts satirize euthanasia law, saying Hawaii bought ‘passing assistance pods’," 1 Oct. 2020 The law that was introduced to stop organized assisted suicide passed Parliament with a solid majority in 2015. — New York Times, "German Court Overturns Ban on Assisted Suicide," 26 Feb. 2020 Here’s what else is happening Germany: The country’s highest court overturned a ban on organized medically assisted suicide, an issue with special resonance in a country where Nazi doctors euthanized hundreds of thousands during World War II. — Tom Wright-piersanti, New York Times, "Coronavirus, Wisconsin Shooting, Syrian Refugees: Your Thursday Briefing," 26 Feb. 2020 But the Sisters of St. Martha, the order of Catholic nuns who used to operate the hospital, said in a statement that assisted suicides will not take place at the hospital itself. — Scottie Andrew, CNN, "A Catholic hospital in Canada has been ordered to provide assisted-suicide services," 23 Sep. 2019 The Maine bill says getting or giving life-ending medication does not qualify as suicide under state law, effectively legalizing the practice often called medically assisted suicide. — Kristin Lam, USA TODAY, "Maine legalizes medically assisted suicide, joining seven other states and District of Columbia," 12 June 2019 The Catholic Church opposes assisted suicide as a violation of divine law. — Scottie Andrew, CNN, "A Catholic hospital in Canada has been ordered to provide assisted-suicide services," 23 Sep. 2019 Colorado voters legalized assisted suicide by passing the End of Life Options Act in 2016. — Meg Wingerter, The Denver Post, "Doctor fired for attempting to help patient use Colorado’s aid-in-dying law lands new job," 25 Oct. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'assisted suicide.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

24 Mar 2021

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“Assisted suicide.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assisted%20suicide. Accessed 17 Apr. 2021.

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More Definitions for assisted suicide

assisted suicide

noun

English Language Learners Definition of assisted suicide

: suicide with help from another person (such as a doctor) to end suffering from severe physical illness

See the full definition for assisted suicide in the English Language Learners Dictionary

assisted suicide

noun

variants: also assisted death

Medical Definition of assisted suicide

: suicide committed by someone with assistance from another person Surveys also show assisted suicides are taking place covertly, often without a doctor's help. — Mark O'Keefe, The Sunday Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), 5 Oct. 1997 especially : physician-assisted suicide Six of the 15 patients who chose assisted suicide in the act's first year had to ask more than one doctor before finding a physician who would write a lethal prescription. — Barry Siegel, The Los Angeles Times, 14 Nov. 1999

assisted suicide

noun