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Huge Support for Assisted Dying at Rally

My Death, My Decision held a rally earlier this week in support of assisted dying, coinciding with the Westminster Hall debate on assisted dying.

Our supporters joined the well-attended rally alongside Humanists UK, co-founders of the assisted dying coalition. Hundreds of attendees waved banners and chanted in the direction of parliament.

Speeches came from Trevor Moore, Chair of My Death, My Decision, Humanists UK CEO Andrew Copson, and campaigners Clare Powell and Bryan Grayson, who have been affected by the current cruel law. 

The rally took place an hour before a debate to “Hold a parliamentary vote on assisted dying”. The debate was organised after nearly 200,000 people signed a petition. 

The debate was well attended by MPs and members of the public who were queuing outside Parliament to attend the three-hour-long debate.

Support from the streets outside Parliament, spilled into Westminster Hall where politicians spoke in support of a law change.

Tory MP Siobhan Baillie began to cry as she shared the testimony of a constituent who had written to her about his mum, “She went on to plead for death in the final weeks, it took 16 weeks for her to die, effectively from starvation.”

Green MP Caroline Lucas said the current law “drives practices overseas or behind closed doors where there are no safeguards in place to protect people.”

We continue to campaign for adults who are unbearably suffering from an incurable physical condition to have the right to choose a compassionate and dignified death. 

Trevor Moore, Chair of My Death, My Decision said:

‘It is heartening to see such passionate support for law change on assisted dying for the incurably suffering. We know that the overwhelming majority of the public are in favour – now it’s time for the politicians to stop dragging their heels.

We urge all parties to include in their manifestos a commitment to allow Parliamentary time for a Bill to be properly debated and voted on. All candidates in the General Election will know that this has their constituents’ support.”

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 mentally competent adults who are terminally ill or intolerably suffering from an incurable condition the option of a legal, safe, and compassionate assisted death. With the support of over 3,000 members and supporters, 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.

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Over a third of Church of England priests support assisted dying

Source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/church-of-england-priests-survey-gay-conversion-therapy-ban-assisted-dying-house-of-lords-net-zero-7kqg3dswr

Support for assisted dying among Church of England priests has grown significantly in the last nine years. Over a third of priests would support assisted dying for someone with an incurable disease.

My Death, My Decision hopes this revelation might help to foster a safe and open debate amongst the Church of England clergy on this vital issue, especially as Scotland, Jersey and the Isle of Man come increasingly closer to creating compassionate assisted dying legislation.

A recent survey by the Times of 1,185 Church of England priests conducted this month found that 35.5% of priests supported a compassionate assisted dying law, compared to 22% in 2014. While a majority do not want assisted dying legalised, opposition has dropped 15%, from 70% to 55%.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey of Clifton described assisted dying as “profoundly Christian to do all we can to ensure nobody suffers against their wishes”. He told The Times: “Opinion is beginning to change as more and more clergy encounter those increasingly difficult experiences of terminal illness where even the best medical care leaves patients living their last days and hours in unconscionable agony and indignity.”

My Death, My Decision’s patron Reverend Canon Rosie Harper says: “The dignity and the compassion that every dying person is owed is still not available to us in this country. I long for [the law] to change and I hope that My Death, My Decision will be part of a wave of people, as most of the people in this country want it to change.”

A 2019 assisted dying poll by Populus found that 86% of people deemed regular churchgoers would support assisted dying under some circumstances. 82% of people who identified as Christian would support a change in the law.

Trevor Moore, Chair of My Death, My Decision said:

“We know the majority of people in the pews support a compassionate, safe assisted dying law and it’s refreshing to see opinions at the pulpit slowly catching up. There is nothing Christian about forcing incurably sick people to have long, painful undignified deaths.

My Death, My Decision welcomes this wave of support shown by The Times survey, and we are glad to see opposition to assisted dying fall considerably too. People deserve to make decisions about their lives and ultimately their deaths. It is time Parliament legislates on this important issue.”

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 and supporters, 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.

Read more about our work with the Assisted Dying Inquiry: https://dev.mydeath-mydecision.org.uk/2023/07/13/our-summary-the-assisted-dying-inquiry/ 

 

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Dominoes are falling: Majority of surgeons support assisted dying.

A majority of Surgeons support assisted dying, according to figures from a survey of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. 61% of respondents to the survey said they personally support a change in the law. 29% said they were opposed and 10% undecided.

This has led the Royal College of Surgeons to end their opposition to assisted dying. 

52% said the Royal College of Surgeons should be supportive of a change in the law to permit assisted dying. 20% said the College should take a neutral position on the provision of assisted dying for mentally competent, terminally ill adults.

In relation to the role of doctors in any future assisted dying process, 59% felt doctors should be involved in confirming a patient meets the eligibility criteria; 42% thought doctors should prescribe the drugs and 23% thought that doctors should be present while patients self-administer the drugs.

Following the survey, the Council voted to adopt a neutral position on the issue. 

The British Medical Association ended its opposition and moved to a neutral position on assisted dying in 2021. This reflects the position of similar medical bodies including the Royal Colleges of Physicians, Medicine, Nursing and Psychiatrists.

Trevor Moore, Chair of My Death, My Decision, said:

“Medical professionals are increasingly coming to the conclusion that assisted dying should be legalised in the UK. The Health and Social Care Committee must surely give due weight to this in their conclusions following the current inquiry into assisted dying.

The public support change, doctors across the spectrum support change – now politicians need to step up and give people who are incurably suffering or terminally ill the right to take control over their own bodies and, ultimately, their own deaths.”

Notes:

Members of the MDMD team, as well as individuals affected by the current law on assisted dying, are available for interview upon request

Read the survey here: https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/about-the-rcs/government-relations-and-consultation/position-statements-and-reports/assisted-dying/ 

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.

Read more about our work with the Assisted Dying Inquiry: https://dev.mydeath-mydecision.org.uk/2023/05/15/assisted-dying-inquiry-health-and-social-care-committee-takes-next-steps/ 

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Compassion lead to assisted dying law, say international experts

Today, the Health and Social Care Committee heard testimony from experts from countries where access to assisted dying is permitted based on ‘unbearable suffering’. In the first panel, experts from Belgium and the Netherlands explained that compassion was the primary motive behind their early adoption of such a law.

Experts also explained that having a law introduces additional scrutiny to end-of-life care. Professor Bernheim explained that Belgium and the Netherlands are where end-of-life issues have been studied the most intensely. He highlighted that since the law was introduced there has been “much more control, much more scrutiny, much more awareness, much more compassion”.

So far, debates in the UK on assisted dying have mostly been limited to the terminally ill, but this session showed that a law that extends to people who are incurably, intolerably suffering is the most compassionate way forward. Professor Irene Tuffrey-Wijne explained that she doesn’t think the six-month prognosis is logical and it could be interpreted as unfair.

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 experts showed that across the world, where assisted dying has been introduced, palliative care has dramatically improved. Professor James Downar has said that since the introduction of an assisted dying law, Canada has seen the most historic increase in funding for palliative care. Since the introduction of an assisted dying law, Netherlands and Belgium now have the most developed palliative care in Europe and in Belgium, confidence in the medical system is high, even higher than it was before the law was introduced.

Professor Downar explained that in Canada the vast majority of people who received assisted dying, over 80% had received palliative care and 98% had access to palliative care.

Trevor Moore, Chair of My Death, My Decision, said:

“It is heartening to hear from those on the frontline of assisted dying in other countries that the key driver for the introduction of a law was compassion. That is what drives our campaign for a law in England and Wales, because above all we want to end unnecessary suffering.

Research from the Office of Health Economics shows that even the best palliative care cannot alleviate suffering in thousands of cases each year. We urge the Health and Social Care Committee to help remedy this by recommending a compassionate law for the UK – following the 28 jurisdictions that have already done so.”

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My Death, My Decision is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England company number 11758121 and located at Unit A 39 Moreland Street, London, EC1V 8BB.