The UK Court of Appeal ruled [advocacy press release] on Wednesday that terminally ill Noel Conway can proceed with challenge of the country’s law against assisted dying. Noel Conway, a retired college lecturer, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2014 and is not expected to live more than 12 months. In March, a panel of High Court judges rejected his motion to change a blanket ban on providing a person assistance to die. Conway argues [press release] that the Suicide Act 1961 [text] is incompatible with Article 8 [text] of the Human Rights Act, which dictates respect for private law, and Article 14 [text] of the Human Rights Act, which provides protection from discrimination. Care Not Killing Alliance [official website], an organization that opposes assisted “suicide” or euthanasia, stated that changing the law would pressure [press releases] vulnerable people to end their lives out of fear of being emotional and financially burdensome. His case will now proceed to the High Court for decision on the legality of the law.

The right to die is a contentious issue worldwide. In January French lawmakers approved [JURIST report] a bill that will allow physicians to keep terminally ill patients sedated until death, opting not to extend the bill to cover physician-assisted suicide. In December the Court of Appeals of Quebec overturned [JURIST report] a lower court injunction and ruled that Quebec’s physician-assisted death law is not in conflict with any elements of the Quebec Criminal Code. In November German lawmakers approved a bill [JURIST report] allowing assisted suicide for “altruistic motives” but banning the practice in cases where it is being conducted on a “business” basis. The month before California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation [JURIST report] that provides terminally ill patients the right to die. Last May a Dutch court cleared [JURIST report] a man of all criminal charges for assisting his 99-year-old mother in committing suicide.