Newsletter archives
Newsletter 04/25 – November 2025
The last newsletter of 2025 provides you with updates and stories from around the world:
In the “Country Updates” section, you can learn about the latest developments in the legislative process in England and Wales, discover what the change of government in France could mean for the “Aide à mourir” and you will find news from the Southern Hemisphere.
In “Inside Dignitas” you may follow two members of our Companion Team through their daily work.
Finally, “Did you know that …” reveals the surprising origin of the (term) “taboo”.
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Newsletter 03/25 – August 2025
In both England and Wales as well as in France, bills on assisted dying have already cleared important parliamentary hurdles. The latest “Country Updates” from August give an insight into the next steps for the Leadbeater Bill in England and Wales and the bill on aide à mourir in France.
In the “Dignitas Intern” section, a member of the planning team introduces her work at Dignitas. In the “Worth seeing / reading” section, a penitentiary expert explains the legal framework governing self-determination at the end of life behind bars. “Did you know that…” deals with the official investigations following assisted suicide.
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Newsletter 02/25 – May 2025
In the May newsletter, our “Country Updates” recall the debate in the House of Commons on the “Leadbeater Bill”, which is scheduled for a vote in June, as well as the vote expected at the end of May in the French Assemblée on the law concerning «aide à mourir». A contribution from Portugal explores how the country’s unstable political situation is affecting legislation on medical aid in dying. In addition, guest authors from Lithuania present two recent studies: one examines public attitudes towards the issue, the other focuses on the views within the medical profession.
In the “Dignitas Intern” section, we look back on 2024 and offer an outlook for 2025. And in our “Did you know that…” section, we highlight why the exercise of a human right does not require state permission.
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Newsletter 01/25 – February 2025
In the first newsletter of 2025, our “Country updates” look at Austria, where the Constitutional Court has made a favourable decision regarding the law on professional assistance in suicide, at England and Wales, where assisted dying remains a hot topic, and at the USA, where end-of-life choices are more threatened than they have been for a long time.
In the “Inside Dignitas” section, you will find an interview with Carola from the First Contact Team at Dignitas. It marks the start of the new series “Insights into working at DIGNITAS”, with new episodes appearing in loose order. In the “Worth seeing / reading” section, Spanish filmmaker Carlos Marques-Macet explains why it was important for him to shoot his latest film “Polvo séran” at original locations. The crew also shot in the Dignitas house.
Finally, in the “Did you know that …” section you will discover why there is no such thing as a “healthy person who wants to die”.
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Newsletter 04/24 – November 2024
The “Country updates” in November focus on the situation in the British Isles and in Iceland. We also cover the death of the Hungarian Dániel Karsai.
In the sections “Inside Dignitas“ and “Did you know that …” we regularly look at issues we encounter in our daily work. This time we have reflected on how our work has changed in recent years and point out the importance of using appropriate terminology.
Last but not least, in the “Worth seeing / reading” we highlight the issues of human rights, human dignity, suicide attempt prevention, freedom and self-determination. On the one hand, this time we feature the film “A Fly On The Wall” by Shonali Bose, who accompanied her good friend Chika Kapadia to Dignitas as a friend and also as a documentary filmmaker. Shonali Bose has written an article for this newsletter. On the other hand, there is the report from the “World Federation of Right to Die Societies” Conference 2024, which took place in Ireland in September.
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Newsletter 03/24 – August 2024
In the August newsletter, the situation regarding self-determination at the end of one’s own life in France is again among the subjects covered in the “Country updates”. Also, we have guest authors reporting from Scotland and Brazil.
The “Inside Dignitas” section sheds light on the path to an accompanied suicide and in the “Did you know that …” section, we highlight that the association’s day-to-day advisory activities do not focus on the question of “how to die?”, but rather on the question of “how to live on?” Finally, in the “Worth seeing / reading” section you will find a short analysis of the Karsai case at the ECtHR.
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Newsletter 02/24 – May 2024
France is once again a subject in the May “Country updates”. We also look at the court judgements in the cases of the two doctors Spittler and Turowski in Germany.
In the “Inside Dignitas” section, you will find a comment on the “Myth of a healthy person who wants to die”. In the “Did you know that …” section, you can find out why “assisted dying” does not necessarily mean “assisted suicide”. Plus, musician Michael Blake drew our attention to his song “Dignitas”.
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Newsletter 01/24 – February 2024
On one hand, the “Country updates” in February focus on the situation regarding self-determination regarding end-of-life choices in France. On the other hand, guest author Da Hye Choi reports promising news from South Korea.
In the “Inside Dignitas” section, we take a look back to 2023 and report on the political and legal work from our anniversary year*.
A new PhD thesis from the UK is mentioned in the “Worth reading / seeing” section. Dr Megan Knights’ [nee Hitchcock] PhD thesis focuses on the views of family members of people who have chosen to end their life through assisted dying. Finally, the first “Did you know that …” piece in 2024 takes a look at grief and emphasises that there is a lot that is “normal” in dealing with it.
*On Wednesday, 17 May 2023 DIGNITAS celebrated its 25th anniversary
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Newsletter 04/23 – November 2023
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Newsletter 03/23 – August 2023
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Newsletter 02/23 – May 2023
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Newsletter 01/23 – February 2023
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Newsletter 04/22 – November 2022
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Newsletter 03/22 – August 2022
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Newsletter 02/22 – May 2022
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Newsletter 01/22 – February 2022
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Newsletter 04/21 – November 2021
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Newsletter 03/21 – September 2021
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Newsletter 02/21 – June 2021
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Newsletter 01/21 – March 2021
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Newsletter 04/20 – December 2020
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Newsletter 03/20 – August 2020
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Newsletter 02/20 – May 2020
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Newsletter 01/20 – March 2020
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Newsletter 04/19 – November 2019
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Newsletter 03/19 – August 2019
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Newsletter 02/19 – May 2019
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Newsletter 01/19 – February 2019
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Newsletter 04/18 – November 2018
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Newsletter 03/18 – August 2018
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Newsletter 02/18 – May 2018
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Newsletter 02/18 – February 2018
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Newsletter 03/17 – November 2017
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Newsletter 02/17 – August 2017
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Newsletter 01/17 – June 2017
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