If you’re asking is suicide a crime, you’re likely looking for a simple "yes" or "no" answer, but the reality is a messy, tangled web of history, old-school religious influence, and modern human rights.
It's heavy stuff. Honestly, for a long time, the answer in most of the English-speaking world was a resounding yes. If you tried to end your life and failed, you could actually end up in a jail cell instead of a hospital bed. That sounds barbaric now, right? But the law moves slow. It’s a glacier. Even though most Western nations have wiped these laws off the books, the shadow of "criminality" still hangs over how police, insurance companies, and hospitals treat people in crisis.
The weird history of why it was illegal
Why would a government ever think it was a good idea to arrest someone for being in enough pain to want to die? Historically, it wasn't about "help." It was about property and sin.
Back in the day—think 17th or 18th century England—the crown viewed its subjects as assets. If you killed yourself, you were basically stealing a taxable worker and potential soldier from the King. It was called felo de se, or "felon of oneself."
The consequences were brutal. Because the person was dead, the law couldn't punish the body, so they punished the family instead. They would seize the deceased person’s property, leaving widows and children homeless and broke. They’d even refuse a proper burial, often burying the person at a crossroads with a stake through their heart to keep their ghost from wandering.
We’ve come a long way since those crossroads, but the legal DNA is still there. In the UK, the Suicide Act 1961 finally changed things, declaring that suicide was no longer a crime. The United States followed a similar path, though it happened state-by-state. By the late 20th century, almost every state had decriminalized the act.
But here is the catch.
Where is suicide a crime right now?
While the U.S., Canada, and most of Europe have moved toward a medical model, there are still dozens of countries where you can be thrown in prison for a suicide attempt.
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As of 2026, roughly 20 to 25 countries still have active laws on the books that criminalize self-harm or attempted suicide. Many of these are in Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. For example, in places like Nigeria or Pakistan (though Pakistan has made moves toward reform recently), the law can still technically treat an attempt as a "misdemeanor" or a "breach of the peace."
Why does this matter?
Because when it's a crime, people hide.
If you think you’re going to be handcuffed for admitting you want to die, you aren't going to go to the ER. You aren't going to tell your doctor. You're going to suffer in total silence until it’s too late. Organizations like Life After Suicide Partnership and International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) have been screaming this from the rooftops for years. They argue that criminalization doesn't prevent deaths; it just makes the data less accurate because families hide the cause of death to avoid legal trouble or social shame.
The grey area of "Assisted Dying"
We have to talk about the elephant in the room: Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS) or Medical Aid in Dying (MAID).
This is where the question is suicide a crime gets really complicated. In places like Oregon, Washington, or the Netherlands, it is perfectly legal for a terminally ill person to request medication to end their life. But if a friend helps you do it without a doctor’s supervision? That’s usually a felony.
Most jurisdictions draw a very hard line between the individual's act and the "assistance" provided by someone else. You won't get arrested for trying to hurt yourself in NYC, but if your roommate hands you the pills, they could be looking at a manslaughter charge. It’s a legal tightrope that leaves families in impossible positions.
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Does decriminalization actually work?
Critics—who are getting fewer and fewer—sometimes worry that if we "legalize" it, we’re saying it’s okay. That’s not what the data shows.
When a country decriminalizes, they usually see an increase in people seeking mental health support. It removes the "criminal" label and replaces it with a "patient" label. This shift allows for the creation of crisis intervention teams instead of just sending the police.
However, we still have a "police" problem in the U.S. and Canada. Even though it's not a crime, the police are usually the ones who respond to a 911 call for a mental health crisis. They have the power of "involuntary commitment." Basically, they can take your freedom away for 72 hours (a "5150" in California) if they think you’re a danger to yourself.
Is it a crime? No. Does it feel like being arrested?
Honestly, to the person in the back of the squad car, it feels exactly the same. They’re in handcuffs. They’re in a locked ward. Their rights are suspended. We’ve decriminalized the act, but we haven't quite figured out how to handle the emergency without using the tools of the criminal justice system.
Insurance and the fine print
You also have to look at the financial side of the law.
If you have a life insurance policy and someone dies by suicide, does it pay out? People often think the answer is a flat "no" because of some "it's a crime" loophole. That’s actually a myth for the most part. Most modern life insurance policies have a "suicide clause" that usually only lasts for the first two years of the policy. If the policy has been active longer than that, the company generally has to pay.
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This was a huge win for consumer rights. It prevents people from taking out a massive policy and immediately ending their lives, but it also recognizes that mental illness is a health issue, not a "willful breach of contract."
Moving forward: What needs to happen?
The law is slowly catching up to science.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been pushing for global decriminalization for years. They point out that in countries where it remains illegal, the stigma is so high that it’s nearly impossible to build effective prevention programs.
But even in "progressive" countries, we have work to do. We need to stop using the phrase "committed suicide." Think about it. We "commit" crimes. We "commit" adultery. We don't "commit" a heart attack or "commit" cancer. Most advocates and experts, like those at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), suggest using "died by suicide" or "experienced a fatal self-harm event."
It sounds like semantics, but language shapes law. If we stop talking about it like a crime, the law will eventually stop treating it like one.
Actionable steps for the here and now
If you or someone you know is struggling with this, the "legal" status of the act shouldn't be the barrier to getting help. Here is what you need to know about navigating the system today:
- The 988 Lifeline is confidential. In the U.S., calling 988 connects you to trained counselors. They aren't looking to "bust" you. Their goal is de-escalation, not incarceration.
- Know your rights regarding involuntary holds. If you are taken to a hospital, you have the right to know why you are being held and the right to contact a lawyer or an advocate.
- Check your local laws on "assisted suicide" if you are a caregiver. If you are looking after someone with a terminal illness, consult a legal expert or an organization like Compassion & Choices. Don't guess. The laws vary wildly between states.
- Push for "co-responder" models. Support local policies that send social workers and nurses along with (or instead of) police for mental health calls. This is the final step in truly "decriminalizing" the experience of a crisis.
The bottom line is that while suicide is rarely a crime in the modern Western world, the "legal" system is still very much involved in the aftermath. We’ve moved from the crossroads and the wooden stakes to hospital wards and insurance clauses. It’s better, but it’s not perfect. The focus has to stay on health, not handcuffs.
If you are in immediate danger, please reach out to a crisis line. You aren't a criminal for being in pain. You’re a human being who deserves a different kind of intervention.
Resources for immediate help:
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Dial 988 (USA)
- Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741
- The Trevor Project (LGBTQ+ Youth): 1-866-488-7386