A dignified death shouldn't depend on where you were born. who your doctor is. what you can afford. which court hears you.
5.3%of people live where a law is in force
60+Member societies
50+Countries represented
Where the law stands right now.
All 249 territories on the map →1 in 23
Around 430 million people, one in nineteen, live where an assisted dying law is in force. Our member societies are working on the rest.
Territory
Status
Latest movement
Eight territories, drawn fresh each visit and ordered by most recent movement. Every territory is on the map, and member societies report from more than thirty countries.
Open the world map →News from our members and around the world.
All news →Law and policy
Australia’s Trans-Tasman VADANZ conference hailed a success as delegates prepare for WFRtDS 50th anniversary conference in Tokyo
Over 400 end-of-life clinical professionals, policy makers, researchers and advocates converged on Melbourne last week for VADCON26, the biennial…
French MPs approve assisted dying law with strict rules after years of argument
First appeared on BBC online 15 July Paul Kirby, Europe digital editor France’s National Assembly has voted to…
World Without Genocide – Press Release and Shadow Report to the UN Addresses Lack of Access to End-of-Life Options in the United States
To Access the report, click here
A global resource for understanding the right to die.
Publications and annual reports, podcasts, films and books, and plain answers to the questions people ask, gathered from member societies around the world.
Knowledge Centre
16 publicationsResearch, annual reports and court decisions on assisted dying, shared for personal use and research.
- Academic
- Medical
- Public
- Academic · Nov 2026Patients’ experiences of unbearable suffering in assisted dying requests in Spain and…
- Academic · Jun 2026An Investigative Analysis of Implementation Barriers Across U.S. Jurisdictions Where Medical Aid…
- Public · Apr 2026Belgium publishes the latest annual report on Assisted Dying
Media Centre
48 titlesInterviews, documentaries and memoirs from around the world.
- Podcasts
- Movies
- Books
- Book · Nov 2026The God Effect: How Suggestion and Ritual Shape Religion and Medicine through…
- Book · Oct 2026As She Chose
- Book · Sep 2026Life Without Parole and Medically Assisted Death: The Coming Crisis in American…
FAQs
10 questions · 18 termsThe terminology and law of end-of-life care can be complex. Start with the common questions.
- QuestionWhat is assisted dying (AD)?
- QuestionHow is assisted dying different from suicide?
- Glossary18 terms used around the world, explained
"Assisted dying" is the federation's global term, adopted at its 2022 General Assembly in Canada.
Voluntary
The decision is made freely, without pressure or coercion.
Assisted
By health practitioners, who prescribe or administer the substance.
Dying
The person is terminally ill, or suffering unbearably, as the law in each place defines it.
A magazine from the right-to-die movement.
Member societies publish a great deal that rarely leaves their own country. WFRTDS Quarterly brings it together: four online issues a year, with video and audio. We are funding the first year by subscription.
Issue 01November 2026
Four a yearPublished online
€30 a yearFounding rate, four issues
€40 a yearStandard rate after launch
Tokyo 2026
World Federation Right to Die Societies Biennial Conference – Tokyo 25-28 November 2026
Every two years the federation's societies meet in one place. They report what has happened since Dublin, including the bills that passed and the ones that failed, and agree a common position.
25–28 Nov2026
Toshi Center Hotel, TokyoHost venue
4 daysPlenaries, workshops, closed sessions
Live subtitlesAI-generated, in every session
- Wed 25 Nov
Welcome reception
For the boards of the federation and the Japan Society for Dying with Dignity.
- Thu 26 Nov
General Assembly and keynotes
The opening, keynotes and a symposium on end-of-life law in East Asia.
- Fri 27 Nov
Assisted dying around the world
Parallel sessions on law and care, then the gala dinner.
- Sat 28 Nov
Film and open activities
Peaceful Death on screen, the Go Wish game, consultations and therapy dogs.
Buy tickets →
Registration JPY 20,000, online only, closes 24 November 2026.
Sixty-four member societies.
We were founded in 1980 by societies who had each been working alone. The federation exists so that a win in one country becomes evidence in the next.
Explaining how MAID works
Dying With Dignity Canada publishes explanations of how the country's law works in practice.
Young Ambassadors
DWD Victoria's programme for younger campaigners launched in 2024.
Challenges to patients' requests
DMD Catalunya is representing patients whose requests under the law have been challenged.
Find your society
Your national society knows the options where you live, so contact it first.
See all our members →
North America A Better Exit
Paris, France AAVIVRE
Europe ADMD France
Madrid,Spain Asociación Federal Derecho a Morir Dignamente
Brussels, Belgium Association pour le Droit de Mourir dans la Dignité
Quebec Association Québécoise pour le Droit de Mourir dans la Dignité
Roma, Italy Associazione Luca Coscioni
Basel, Switzerland Athanasios
What your gift pays for.
We don't run advertising campaigns. We fund the unglamorous things that decide outcomes: supporting the movement globally, briefings for parliamentarians, expert witnesses at committee hearings, and getting smaller societies into rooms they couldn't otherwise afford to be in.
Death is inevitable, but suffering shouldn't be. The World Federation of Right to Die Societies (WFRtDS) unites 64 organisations in more than 30 countries to fight for autonomy, compassion, and legal protection at the end of life. Your donation powers this global movement.
- Registered non-profit association in Spain · NIF G93861615
- Payments processed securely. We never store your card details.
For individuals
Become a supporter
Individuals can support the federation directly. Supporter gifts are not tied to any one country.
€25 a year, with your name on our supporters page.
Become a supporter →
For organisations
Bring your society in
Membership is open to any society with members or supporters, a board or committee, and a main object consistent with the federation's. Members keep their independence and their own campaigns, and share the evidence other societies have gathered.
Granted by the committee on an interim basis and confirmed at the next General Assembly. The annual fee is 1% of your previous year's income, between US$100 and US$2,500, and concessions can be agreed for societies that cannot afford it.
Apply for membership →If you're facing a decision about your own care
The federation campaigns for the law. We don't give clinical or personal advice, and we don't provide information about methods. Your national member society can point you to the options that exist where you live, and to advance-planning support. Find your society →
Support the federation's work.
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