Dignity in Dying is a political campaign seeking to change the law on assisted dying in the UK. Assisted dying is for terminally ill, mentally competent people to be able to control the manner and timing of their death. Currently someone can face up to 14 years in prison for assisting a loved one to die. We know that one Briton a fortnight is travelling abroad to die (the most well-known facility is Dignitas in Switzerland) and most people are doing this at a time before they would choose an assisted death if it was legal in this country. Over 300 terminally ill people a year are ending their lives in England behind closed doors, usually alone. There have been cases where people have obtained illegal drugs from abroad, with no assurance if these might leave a person in more pain afterwards. Lord Falconer's Assisted Dying Bill was introduced in to the House of Lords in 2014. The Bill provided a framework for a future law on assisted dying with upfront safeguards, a person requesting an assisted death would have to be evaluated by two independent doctors to ascertain that they were terminally ill with a prognosis of six months, and mentally competent making a well-informed decision free from coercion. The person would have to self-administer the life ending medication themselves. The Bill passed its Second Reading unopposed (a debate on principles) and won two votes during its Committee Stage (where amendments can be tabled). Due to the upcoming General Election the Bill has now effectively run out of time in this Parliament and will need to be re-introduced after May. Assisted dying is supported by an overwhelming majority of the British public, independent polls consistently put support between 70-80%. This is also true of individual groups such as people with faith (over 60%) and people with disabilities (79%). The reason a change in the law is supported in huge numbers is because most will have experience of a loved one's death, and unfortunately some people suffer at the end of life. The UK has one of the strongest Palliative Care systems in the world but everyone admits that this will not be to the benefit of every patient. Ultimately people want choice and control in life and this is the same for death, a dying person should not be forced to suffer against their wishes at the end of life when their death is inevitable. Also no one agrees that someone who has assisted a loved one to die out of compassion should be in prison for fourteen years, however this is still the penalty for doing so in the UK. There is also strong evidence in other jurisdictions where assisted dying is legal that it can work safely, such as Oregon - the state in America - who has had an assisted dying law in place since 1997 with no signs of abuse. Oregon has also shown that there is no 'slippery slope' which is a common argument against assisted dying - for instance as soon as you legislate for terminally ill people to have assistance to die then this will automatically be given to other people who are not dying. Oregon's law has never been extended and countries that already have euthanasia laws (not just for terminally ill people, and where the doctor performs the final action) such as the Netherlands and Belgium never had assisted dying laws in the first place. The evidence shows the law you enact is the law you get and British people are not happy that they are denied choice at the end of life, when others in the world are entitled to control their own death. I am the Press Officer at Dignity in Dying and work with our case studies; people who are either terminally ill themselves, or relatives of people who have travelled abroad to die or have had very bad deaths. I became involved in Dignity in Dying because it was a cause that I truly believed in, having seen my grandfather suffer at the end of life because he was denied this right in the last few weeks of his life. I had previously worked at UNICEF UK helping children in some of the poorest countries in the world have access to food and medicine, and now I am campaigning on a social issue in this country - everyone deserves the right to a good death and I think it is an outrage that we are currently turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to dying people's wishes. If you have more questions, then please don't hesitate to contact me. Mickey Charouneau Media Officer Dignity in Dying [email protected] 02074797732 |
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