person is not required to have a terminal illness but only the capacity to make decisions. about 25% of people in switzerland who take advantage of assisted suicide do not have a terminal illness but are simply old or "tired of life". publicized cases in january 2006 british doctor anne turner took her own life in a zurich clinic having developed an incurable degenerative disease. her story was reported by the bbc and later, in 2009, made into a tv film a short stay in switzerland starring julie walters. in july 2009, british conductor sir edward downes and his wife joan died together at a suicide clinic outside zürich "under circumstances of their own choosing". sir edward was not terminally ill, but his wife was diagnosed with rapidly developing cancer. in march 2010, the american pbs tv program frontline showed a documentary called the suicide tourist which told the story of professor craig ewert, his family, and dignitas, and his decision to die by assisted suicide using sodium pentobarbital in switzerland after he was diagnosed and suffering with als (lou gehrig's disease). in june 2011, the bbc televised the assisted suicide of peter smedley, a canning factory owner, who was suffering from motor neurone disease. the programme – sir terry pratchett's choosing to die – told the story of smedley's journey to the end where he used the dignitas clinic, a voluntary euthanasia clinic in switzerland, to assist him in carrying out his suicide. the programme shows smedley eating chocolates to counter the unpalatable taste of the liquid he drinks to end his life. moments after drinking the liquid, smedley begged for water, gasped for breath and became red, he then fell into a deep sleep where he snored heavily while holding his wife's hand. minutes later, smedley stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating. uruguay assisted suicide, while criminal, does not appear to have caused any convictions, as article 37 of the penal code (effective 1934) states: "the judges are authorized to forego punishment of a person whose previous life has been honorable where he commits a homicide motivated by compassion, induced by repeated requests of the victim." england and wales deliberately assisting a suicide is illegal. between 2003 and 2006, lord joffe made four attempts to introduce bills that would have legalised physician-assisted suicide in england and wales. all were rejected by the uk parliament. in the meantime, the director of public prosecutions has clarified the criteria under which an individual will be prosecuted in england and wales for assisting in another person's suicide. these have not been tested by an appellate court as yet. in 2014, lord falconer of thoroton tabled an assisted dying bill in the house of lords which passed its second reading but ran out of time before the general election. during its passage peers voted down two amendments which were proposed by opponents of the bill. in 2015, labour mp rob marris introduced another bill, based on the falconer proposals, in the house of commons. the second reading was the first time the house was able to vote on the issue since 1997. a populus poll had found that 82% of the british public agreed with the proposals of lord falconer's assisted dying bill. however, in a free vote on 11 september 2015, only 118 mps were in favour and 330 against, thus defeating the bill. scotland unlike the other jurisdictions in the united kingdom, suicide was not illegal in scotland before 1961 (and still is not) thus no associated offences were created in imitation. depending on the actual nature of any assistance given to a suicide, the offences of murder or culpable homicide might be committed or there might be no offence at all; the nearest modern prosecutions bearing comparison might be those where a culpable homicide conviction has been obtained when drug addicts have died unintentionally after being given "hands on" non-medical assistance with an injection. modern law regarding the assistance of someone who intends to die has a lack of certainty as well as a lack of relevant case law; this has led to attempts to introduce statutes providing more certainty. independent msp margo macdonald's "end of life assistance bill" was brought before the scottish parliament to permit physician-assisted suicide in january 2010. the catholic church and the church of scotland, the largest denomination in scotland, opposed the bill. the bill was rejected by a vote of 85–16 (with 2 abstentions) in december 2010. the assisted suicide (scotland) bill was introduced on 13 november 2013 by the late margo macdonald msp and was taken up by patrick harvie msp on ms macdonald's death. the bill entered the main committee scrutiny stage in january 2015 and reached a vote in parliament several months later; however the bill was again rejected. northern ireland health is a devolved matter in the united kingdom and as such it would be for the northern ireland assembly to legislate for assisted dying as it sees fit. as of 2018, there has been no such bill tabled in the assembly. united states main article: assisted suicide in the united states state laws regarding assisted suicide in the united states legal legal under court ruling1 illegal 1 in its 2009 decision baxter v. montana, the montana supreme court ruled that assisted suicide did not violate montana legal precedent or state statutes, even though no montana laws specifically allowed it. physician-assisted dying was first legalized by the 1994 oregon death with dignity act, with effect delayed by lawsuits until 1997. the montana supreme court ruled in baxter v. montana (2009) that it found no state law or public policy reason that would prohibit physician-assisted dying. it was legalized by washington (state) in 2008, vermont in 2013, california and washington, d.c., and colorado in 2016, hawaii in 2018, new jersey in 2019, maine in 2020, and new mexico in 2021 it had also been briefly legal in new mexico in 2014 and 2015 due to a court decision that was overturned. access to the procedure is generally restricted to people with a terminal illness and less than six months to live. patients are generally required to be mentally healthy, to get approval from multiple doctors, and to affirm the request multiple times. the punishment for participating in physician-assisted death varies throughout the other states. the state of wyoming does not "recognize common law crimes and does not have a statute specifically prohibiting physician-assisted suicide". in florida, "every person deliberately assisting another in the commission of self-murder shall be guilty of manslaughter, a felony of the second degree".