Suicide is a human right.

According to the Final Exit Network — a nonprofit organization that provides education and support for those seeking death with dignity — suicide is the human rights issue of the twenty-first century.[1]

The Tokyo Declaration (1976) reads in part:

In recent years, we have become aware of the increasing concern to the individual over his right to die with dignity, or euthanasia. We believe in the rights and freedom of all men. This brings us of affirm this right to die with dignity, which means in peace and without suffering.

Death is unavoidable. But we believe that the manner (and time) of dying should be left to the decision of the individual, assuming such demands do not result in harm to society other than the sadness associated with death.

The Declaration of a person’s wishes, or the “Living Will”, should be respected by all concerned as an expression of intrinsic human rights. Therefore, at least for the present, we request that this Declaration, or the “Living Will”, be made legally effective, and pursuant to this, efforts toward its legalization should be made.[2]

This growing movement fostered the World Federation of Right to Die Societies, founded in 1980. It currently consists of fifty-one member organizations in twenty-eight countries.

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[1] Final Exit Network, “About.”
[2] The World Federation of Right to Die Societies, “History of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies.”