[JURIST] The Indian Supreme Court [official website] on Monday stayed an order from the Rajasthan High Court [official website] that would have made the practice of Santhara [Hindustan Times report], or voluntarily fasting to death practiced by the Jains [BBC backgrounder], a crime. The Rajasthan High Court said that there was no dignity in the practice and it was essentially suicide, which is illegal in the country. The Jains argued that it was a protected religious practice. Though the Supreme Court stayed the order, it said that it would take the case up for consideration [BBC report]. It is expected that a conclusion on the matter will take several years.

The right to die [JURIST news archive] has been a contentious issue in the US and around the world. In April, a South African judge ruled [JURIST report] that a terminally ill man has a right to assisted suicide with no legal or professional consequences for the participating doctor. In February the Supreme Court of Canada struck down [JURIST report] the country’s ban on medically assisted suicide. In January California lawmakers introduced [JURIST report] a bill [SB 128, PDF] to permit patients who meet specific criteria the right to medically end their lives. In 2006 the US Supreme Court upheld Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act [JURIST report], making Oregon the only US state that allowed assisted suicide at that time. Vermont, Washington, New Mexico and Montana now also allow assisted suicide. Possibly the most contentious right to die case ended in 2005, when Terri Schiavo [JURIST op-ed] passed away following a heated legal battle between family members on whether to artificially maintain her life in a vegetative state.