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Assisted dying: New UK law must defend right to die [1]

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Date: 2024-12 

In the UK, we pride ourselves on our shared values of compassion, dignity, and respect for individual choice. Yet, our laws fall short when it comes to supporting those enduring unbearable suffering at the end of life. Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, set for its second reading on 29 November, on assisted dying offers an opportunity for reform, giving the UK a chance to set a gold standard in compassionate, well-regulated legislation.

Having had two very good friends and my whole family of five (apart from my mum) die in the last seven years, I’ve seen a lot of death up close. Some of those seven died in peace with excellent palliative care but some with equally excellent care nonetheless died troubled and distressed.

While palliative care deserves greater funding, it cannot alleviate all forms of suffering. Many of us have sat by loved ones who, in excruciating pain, have expressed a heartfelt and rational wish for their suffering to end. It’s no surprise that, for over a decade, polls have consistently shown that between 70-90% of the public supports a change in the law.

For those with the financial means and physical ability, travelling abroad has become the only way to exercise their right to die with dignity. But this forces people to make the difficult choice to end their lives earlier than they might have wished, far from home and the people who love them. For those who cannot or do not wish to travel abroad, equally difficult decisions are sometimes made.

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Noel Conway, whose challenge to the law against assisted dying at the High Court was supported by Humanists UK where I work, chose the only legal option available to him after he lost his case.

In 2021, after years of suffering from motor neurone disease, he faced a slow protracted death as a result of having his ventilator removed. In his final statement which was released upon his death, he said:

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[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/assisted-dying-euthanasia-uk-law-mps-parliament-noel-conway/

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