Harish in India, Noelia in Spain: What is the legal status of euthanasia in different countries?
Harish Rana, an Indian youth who spent over a decade in a vegetative state, became the first case where the Supreme Court allowed withdrawal of life support under passive euthanasia rules.
Days later, in Spain, Noelia Castillo Ramos, a 25-year-old paralysed after an assault, died by legal euthanasia after a protracted legal battle with her family over her right to do so.
Castillo struggled with psychiatric illness since she was a teenager, and tried taking her life twice, she said, the second time after she was sexually assaulted, according to an Associated Press report. The injuries she suffered from her second suicide attempt in 2022 left her unable to use her legs and in a wheelchair.
Her death reignited debate on assisted dying, laws over which differ widely across countries. Here’s a look at the legal status of euthanasia and assisted dying around the world.
Also Read | Nuanced reading of the right to die with dignity
India
Harish Rana was 18 when a fall caused severe brain injuries that left him in a vegetative state. For 13 years, he survived only through artificial support, with no cognitive recovery.
Responding to a plea from his parents, the Supreme Court on March 11 invoked India’s passive euthanasia framework for the first time to permit withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, HT earlier reported.
It noted, “When the degree of bodily invasion progressively increases, and the prognosis for recovery progressively decreases, there arises a certain point when the State’s absolute interest in preserving life must become subservient to the dignity of the individual…” Rana died on Tuesday.
His case adds to India’s evolving legal position on the right to die. Earlier rulings such as Maruti S Dubal v. State of Maharashtra (1987) and P Rathinam v. Union of India (1994) had recognised a link between the Right to Life and the Right to Die, striking down the criminalisation of attempted suicide.
However, this view was overturned in 1996 in Gian Kaur v State of Punjab, where the court held that Article 21 protects life and does not include the right to end it.
In 2018, the Supreme Court of India recognised the right to die with dignity as a fundamental right and laid down guidelines for terminally ill patients to exercise it. In 2023, it revised these guidelines to make access to this right more practical and less restrictive.
Also Read | Noelia Castillo Ramos’s final emotional message before euthanasia revealed; family reacts
Spain
Spain legalised euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in 2021 for patients experiencing unbearable suffering due to serious or incurable conditions, Reuters reported.
The process requires multiple written requests and independent medical evaluations.
Noelia Castillo Ramos, from Barcelona died by euthanasia after years of physical suffering, trauma and declining mental health.
Her decision had divided her family. Reports say her father, Geronimo, repeatedly tried to halt the process and succeeded in delaying it in August 2024 by appealing to Spain’s public authority with backing from a conservative Catholic group, Christian Lawyers.
However, the effort ultimately failed. In February 2026, Spain’s Constitutional Court dismissed his appeal, ruling that there was “no violation of fundamental rights” and allowing the procedure to proceed under the country’s 2021 euthanasia law, which permits assisted dying in cases of severe and prolonged suffering.
United Kingdom
While mentally competent, terminally ill adults can legally end their lives under certain conditions in countries like Australia, Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, and parts of the United States, the situation in Britain remains uncertain.
On Friday, members of the upper house indicated that the current proposal to legalise assisted dying is unlikely to pass.
Also Read | British MPs advance contentious assisted dying law
Switzerland
Switzerland has permitted assisted suicide since 1942, provided the motive is not “selfish”. Doctors can prescribe medication for self-administration, and organisations have been offering assisted suicide services under regulatory frameworks since 1985, according to a report by The Guardian.
Notably, the law does not restrict eligibility based on the individual’s medical condition.
United States
Physician-assisted dying is legal in ten U.S. states – California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, along with the District of Columbia. Oregon was the first to legalise the practice, with its law taking effect in 1997.
Netherlands
The Netherlands legalised euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2002 under the “Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures) Act”.
Doctors are protected from prosecution if patients are experiencing “unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement”.
Minors aged 12 and above may request euthanasia, though parental consent is required for those under 16.
Also Read | Harish Rana, first to be allowed passive euthanasia in India, dies at AIIMS
Belgium
Belgium also legalised assisted dying in 2002, extending it to individuals experiencing unbearable suffering, including psychiatric patients, Reuters reported.
Since 2014, terminally ill minors can also access euthanasia with parental approval.
Canada
Canada introduced “Medical Assistance in Dying” in 2016 for individuals whose death was considered “reasonably foreseeable”.
In 2021, eligibility was expanded to include those with a “grievous and irremediable” condition.
Australia
Voluntary assisted dying is legal across most of Australia for terminally ill patients or those facing intolerable suffering, beginning with Victoria in 2019 and gradually expanding nationwide.
Portugal
Portugal passed legislation in 2023 allowing assisted dying for people experiencing intense suffering due to serious illness or injury. However, the framework remains incomplete and is currently on hold pending further revisions.
Also Read | Harish Rana’s passive euthanasia process begins after emotional goodbye, ‘could take 2-3 weeks’
Germany
Germany banned organised assisted suicide in 2015, but in 2020 its top court overturned the restriction, affirming the right to a self-determined death, Reuters reported.
Lawmakers have yet to establish a new regulatory framework.
France
Since 2016, French law has allowed doctors to place terminally ill patients under deep sedation but not to actively end life. In May 2025, lawmakers approved a bill permitting certain terminally ill patients to use a lethal substance.
The proposal, backed by President Emmanuel Macron, is now under Senate review and could become law by 2027.
Ireland
In Ireland, a parliamentary committee recently recommended legalising assisted dying in limited circumstances. While lawmakers have acknowledged the findings, formal legislative changes are still under consideration.