Laws regarding euthanasia vary by country and territory. Efforts to change government policies on euthanasia of humans in the 20th and 21st centuries had limited effect 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.

, euthanasia is legal in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Jersey, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal (law not yet in force, awaiting regulation), Spain, and Uruguay. In 2021, a Peruvian court allowed euthanasia for a single person, Ana Estrada. Eligibility for euthanasia varies across jurisdictions where it is legal, with some countries allowing euthanasia for mental illness.

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

Timeline

+ Country Legalization method Date effective Netherlands Passed by the States General 1 April 2002 BelgiumPassed by the Belgian Federal Parliament 28 May 2002 LuxembourgPassed by the Chamber of Deputies 19 March 2009 ColombiaRuling of the Constitutional Court of Colombia15 December 2014 CanadaPassed by the Parliament of Canada 17 June 2016 SpainPassed by the Cortes Generales 25 June 2021 New ZealandPassed by the Parliament of New Zealand and adopted in a referendum 6 November 2021 PortugalPassed by the Assembly of the Republic, promulgated by the President and published on the official gazette. Awaiting the drafting and approval of regulation by the government. TBA EcuadorRuling of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador 5 February 2024 UruguayPassed by the Parliament of Uruguay on the 15th of October 2025 and promulgated through a reglamentary decree signed by President Yamandú Orsi on 15th April 2026. 15 April 2026 JerseyPassed by the States Assembly on the 26th of February 2026, receiving royal assent the 9th of July 2026. TBA FrancePassed by the National Assembly on the 15th of July 2026, promulgated the 19th of August 2026. TBA AustraliaPassed by the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly on the 27th of August 2026, last place in Australia to legalize the practice. TBA

Euthanasia law by country

Americas

Argentina

In May 2012, the Argentine Senate (Senado Argentino), through Law 26,742, legalised a project that enables patients to reject treatments that artificially prolong the life of patients with terminal or irreversible symptoms. The consent may be given by the patient, or, if they are not in a position to do so, their relatives or legal representatives. Basically, Argentina supports passive euthanasia, but not active euthanasia.

Canada

Voluntary active euthanasia, called "physician assisted dying", is legal in Canada for all people over the age of 18 who have a terminal illness that has progressed to the point where natural death is "reasonably foreseeable." To prevent suicide tourism, only people eligible to claim Canadian health insurance may use it. Legalization of the practice came in 2015/2016 as a result of a series of Supreme Court rulings striking down Canada's ban on medically assisted suicide. Below is a timeline of events:

On 5 June 2014, Québec's provincial National Assembly unanimously adopted La Loi concernant les soins de fins de vie arguing healthcare is a provincial's competency and therefore challenging Ottawa's competency regarding the criminal code. The Supreme Court ruling, in favor of Québec, created a legal precedent for euthanasia in Canada.

On 6 February 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled in Carter v Canada (AG) that Canadian adults who are mentally competent and suffering intolerably and permanently have the right to a doctor's help in dying. The court however suspended its ruling for 12 months to give the government an opportunity to write legislation and draft new laws and policies around assisted dying.Carter v. Canada (Attorney General), 2015 SCC 5, online at: http://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/14637/index.do In January 2016 the court granted an additional 4-month extension to its ruling suspension to allow time for the newly elected Liberal government to consult with Canadians on drafting a law to comply with the ruling. As an interim measure, it also ruled that provincial courts can now begin approving applications for euthanasia until the new law passes.

A parliamentary committee report tasked with studying the issue in light of the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling recommended that anyone experiencing "intolerable suffering" should be able to seek a doctor's help to die. On 14 April 2016, Canada's federal Liberal government introduced legislation to legalize assisted dying under more restrictive conditions than recommended by the committee, allowing access to only those with terminal illnesses for whom death is "reasonably foreseeable". The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association argues that the government's assisted dying law is unconstitutional, because it limits access to only those whose death is "reasonably foreseeable", rather than provide access to anybody suffering from a "grievous and irremediable" condition, the definition used by the Supreme Court of Canada in their court ruling that the BCCLA argues would include non-terminal conditions.

The bill received considerable multi-partisan opposition within the Senate, where it was criticized as being drafted too quickly, and being too restrictive compared with the Supreme Court decision. As a result, the Senate made a series of amendments to the bill. The House of Commons accepted all of the amendments made by the Senate except one, which removed the requirement that death be "reasonably foreseeable."

On 17 June 2016, a bill to legally allow assisted suicide within Canada became law after it passed both houses of the Parliament of Canada and received Royal Assent.

Chile Active euthanasia or assisted suicide are not legal in Chile. Passive euthanasia, however, is legal. Since 2012, the regulation of patients' rights creates the right to informed consent, which allows accepting or refusing any medical treatment. Patients can refuse treatment when they are terminal. Currently, a bill to allow active euthanasia and assisted suicide is being discussed by the congress. The bill was approved in general by the Chamber of Deputies on 12 December 2020.

Colombia In a 6–3 decision, Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled in 1997 that "no person can be held criminally responsible for taking the life of a terminally ill patient who has given clear authorization to do so," according to The Washington Post. The court defined "terminally ill" person as those with diseases such as "cancer, AIDS, and kidney or liver failure if they are terminal and the cause of extreme suffering," the Post reported. The ruling specifically refused to authorize euthanasia for people with degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or Lou Gehrig's disease. On 15 December 2014, the Constitutional Court had given the Ministry of Health and Social Protection 30 days to publish guidelines for the healthcare sector to use in order to guarantee terminally ill patients, with the wish to undergo euthanasia, their right to a dignified death. The Constitutional Court of Colombia extended in July 2021 the requirements to access and practice euthanasia to non-terminal patients.

Ecuador On February 5, 2024, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador ruled that active euthanasia is legal. The Court decided that Article 144 of COIP (Código Orgánico Integral Penal, Comprehensive Criminal Organic Code), that typifies simple homicide, is constitutional as long as active euthanasia is not sanctioned. The Court indicated that active euthanasia will be legal when i) it is performed by a physician, ii) the patient has given free, unequivocal and informed consent (or through a representative when unable to express it), and iii) the patient is experiencing intense suffering because of a serious and irreversible bodily injury or a serious and incurable disease.

Mexico

In Mexico, active euthanasia is illegal but since 7 January 2008 the law allows the terminally ill —or closest relatives, if unconscious— to refuse medication or further medical treatment to extend life (also known as passive euthanasia) in Mexico City, in the central state of Aguascalientes (since 6 April 2009) and, since 1 September 2009, in the Western state of Michoacán. A similar law extending the same provisions at the national level has been approved by the senate and an initiative decriminalizing active euthanasia has entered the same legislative chamber on 13 April 2007.

Peru Euthanasia is a delict under the laws of Peru, although there have been some attempts to reform them.

In October 2009, the Reviser Special Commission of the Penal Code of the Parliament expressed its support of a proposal that tried to amend article 112 of the Penal Code, but it did not succeed.

However, at the beginning of 2015, the case of the Chilean woman young Valentina Maureira, who suffered from cystic fibrosis, an incurable disease, and who asked that euthanasia be allowed in her country, attracted the interest of the press of Chile and also of foreign media.

On 4 March of the same year, the Peruvian legislator Roberto Angulo Álvarez, membership of Dignity and Democracy parliamentary group, motivated by this case, presented a bill that proposed to allow assisted death in case of terminal or degenerative disease, with the objective of "avoid the physical and psychological pains of the patient, as well the unnecessary expenses for the family members and the State". Angulo Álvarez also argued that his legislative project "would contribute to respect for individual freedom and human dignity".

United States

Active euthanasia is illegal throughout the United States. Patients retain the rights to refuse medical treatment and to receive appropriate management of pain at their request (passive euthanasia), even if the patients' choices hasten their deaths. Additionally, futile or disproportionately burdensome treatments, such as life-support machines, may be withdrawn under specified circumstances and, under federal law and most state laws only with the informed consent of the patient or, in the event of the incompetence of the patient, with the informed consent of the legal surrogate. The Supreme Court of the United States has not dealt with "quality of life issues" or "futility issues" and appears to only condone active or passive "euthanasia" (not legally defined) when there is clear and convincing evidence that informed consent to the euthanasia, passive or active, has been obtained from the competent patient or the legal surrogate of the incompetent patient.

While active euthanasia is illegal throughout the U.S., assisted suicide is legal in Colorado, Oregon, Hawaii, New Mexico, Washington, Vermont, Maine, New Jersey, California, the District of Columbia, and is de facto legal in Montana.

Uruguay

In October 2025, with the approval of the so-called Dignified Death Bill, Uruguay recognised the right of mentally sound adults in the terminal stage of an incurable and irreversible disease to request euthanasia to be administered by a doctor on their behalf, this procedure is known as active euthanasia.

Any patient who requests to be euthanized will first need to get a doctor's counsel and approval, and then that of a second doctor independent of the first one or a medical board in case of disagreement between the first two. The patient will then undergo another interview, and finally, they will have to ratify their decision before two witnesses at least one of whom shall not receive any financial benefit due to the death of the declarant.