What do assisted dying, assisted suicide and euthanasia mean and what is the law?
Throughout the UK, laws prevent people from asking for medical help to die.
Euthanasia is illegal under English law and is considered manslaughter or murder. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment.
The Suicide Act 1961 also makes it illegal to encourage or assist a suicide in England and Wales. Those found guilty could face up to 14 years in prison.
Similar laws exist in Northern Ireland.
In Scotland, it is possible that helping a person to die could lead to prosecution for an offence such as culpable homicide.
In March 2024, MPs on the Health and Social Care Committee highlighted confusion over the rules governing UK doctors whose patients want to go abroad to die, external.
The British Medical Association (BMA) advises doctors not to produce medical reports for patients who wish to carry out assisted suicide abroad, such as at Dignitas in Switzerland.
