Does legalising assisted suicide really decrease non-assisted suicide?

Legalising assisted suicide and euthanasia increases the risk of suicide, according to recent research by the UK’s Anscombe Bioethics Centre.

This contradicts the conventional wisdom about jurisdictions where euthanasia or assisted suicide have been legalised. The Swiss assisted suicide organisation Dignitas, for instance, has argued, “the option of an assisted/accompanied suicide without having to face the severe risks inherent in commonly-known suicide attempts is one of the best methods of preventing suicide attempts and suicide. It may sound paradoxical: in order to prevent suicide attempts, one needs to say ‘yes’ to suicide.”