Today, the Health and Social Care Committee published its report on assisted dying. My Death, My Decision welcomes the report and urges parliament to act as soon as possible on assisted dying. The Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition have both said recently that they would give Parliamentary time to a new debate.
The report contained no direct recommendations for legislative change, but clearly outlines the evidence and should be used as a roadmap for the next parliament to legislate on assisted dying.
Members of the MDMD team, as well as individuals affected by the current law on assisted dying, are available for interview upon request.
Trevor Moore, Chair of My Death, My Decision, said:
“This report should lay the foundations for a compassionate assisted dying law. The report is clear that individuals in the UK are suffering unnecessarily and that the present law is a shambles. Doing nothing is no longer an option. Adults who are suffering intolerably from incurable conditions deserve the right to make their own end-of-life decisions.
While it is disappointing that the report didn’t go further to directly recommend change, nothing in this report should block Parliament from acting. So we urge the next parliament to act on this urgently, drawing on the experience of the 31 jurisdictions that have already done so.”
My Death, My Decision would welcome an assisted dying law in the UK that grants mentally capable adults the option of an assisted death if they are enduring unbearable suffering from an incurable physical condition.
The report includes several insights into how assisted dying is working well abroad. Including:
- Palliative care is improved by the introduction of assisted dying legislation.
- The current guidance for doctors about assisted dying is inadequate and should be improved.
- In every country with assisted dying legislation, doctors can conscientiously object – many people recommend an opt-in model for medical professionals.
- So-called ‘slippery slopes’ where assisted dying legislation expands unintentionally don’t exist – The US state of Oregon’s assisted dying law remains effectively unchanged since it was introduced in 1997.
The report made several references to My Death, My Decision’s evidence submitted, including that public opinion has been consistently in favour of assisted dying for decades and that not allowing people with disabilities the right to make decisions about their own end of life removes their autonomy and is discriminatory.
Read our summary of the inquiry as it happened.
The report fails to address the fact that – as recent research shows – less than half the UK residents who seek an assisted death in Switzerland would be helped by the narrow laws that Parliament has considered to date.
Susan Lawford, who was arrested and investigated for accompanying Sharon Johnston to Dignitas in 2022, said:
“I was arrested at 5 am, kept in a cell for 16 hours and then was under investigation for six months for the crime of accompanying Sharon Johnston to have an assisted death in Switzerland. I’m disappointed that the report doesn’t recommend change, but I’m hopeful that politicians can use it to debate and vote on a meaningful change to the law.
It’s clear to me that Sharon shouldn’t have been forced abroad to die with dignity. This report mentions that too many people in the UK are suffering and have a clear and settled wish to die with dignity. Our politicians must act.”
Notes:
Members of the MDMD team, as well as individuals affected by the current law on assisted dying, are available for interview upon request
For further comment or information, media should contact Nathan Stilwell at nathan.stilwell@mydeath-mydecision.org.uk or phone 07456200033.
My Death, My Decision is a grassroots campaign group that wants the law in England and Wales to allow those who are terminally ill or intolerably suffering the option of a legal, safe, and compassionate assisted death. With the support of over 3,000 members, we advocate for an evidence-based law that would balance individual choice alongside robust safeguards and finally give the people of England and Wales choice at the end of their lives.
