The abortion rate has dropped for the second year running in England and Wales, statistics show. But experts said it was still too early to say whether there was a downward trend. The total number of abortions was 189,100 in 2009 - a rate of 17.5 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, according to the Department of Health figures. This compares to 18.2 in 2008 and comes after a general upward trend for the past 40 years which peaked in 2007. The abortion rate in Scotland also fell last year to 12.4 per 1,000.
At least one in 10 suicides in England is by someone with a chronic or terminal illness, found researchers who tried to obtain information on the subject from local health authorities. Coroners told them that people were increasingly killing themselves at a younger age, rather than waiting until they were in severe pain in their 80s or 90s. And two of 15 coroners interviewed also indicated they deliberately avoided probing into possible cases of assisted suicide - which remains illegal in Britain - "often for fear of causing problems for the friends and family left behind".
Neuchâtel, 27.03.2012 (FSO) – The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) is presenting statistical results on assisted suicide for the first time. These cover the period from 1998 to 2009. During this period the number of Swiss residents who died as a result of assisted suicide rose steadily. In 2009, the number was nearly 300, which corresponds to 4.8 per 1000 deaths. There are no corresponding data for the period prior to 1998.