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 |
13 Comments
Toby Brown
26/7/2019 12:09:24 pm
I think it should be legalised as 70-80% of people agree with changing the law to make it legal and we live in a democracy so surly it should be put to an official vote and then if the results are like the ones said in the article euthanasia should be legalised
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Dan Ringrose
5/9/2019 06:53:57 pm
I think that euthanasia should definitely be legalised. This is because I believe that it restores a sense of dignity to a person who has become unable to look after themselves, and who are living in constant pain. However, if the procedure of euthanasia is to be carried out, it goes without saying that the patient should be asked if they truly want to go on with it, as there have been cases of people using euthanasia to claim something from the person after they die, such as inheritance from a will.
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Mrs R
8/1/2020 10:51:52 am
10C
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Sohan Patel
8/1/2020 09:12:37 pm
I believe that Christians shouldn’t support euthanasia. If God has given life to someone, then it is not up to us to decide when to take it away. You would be disobeying Gods’ words in the bible that you have sworn to listen to and guide you in your life. I believe in the religiose teachings of Hinduism. We cannot let euthanasia happen because it intervenes with Ahimsa (No Harm). If we were to act out assisted suicide it would cause karma on the person we are helping and ourselves. We have no right to help end peoples lives because humans were never given the responsibility in the first place. In my opinion I side with Badham and that is because if we legalise euthanasia, we are allowing people to let go of their lives when they still have a life to live for. By helping someone commit suicide does not help the person neither does it help your own suffering. Many people can’t see the problems with euthanasia, it fundamentally doesn’t help the person who is going to die. Death is not a way to stop suffering but with the right medication, with the right help you can still have a great life, a life you couldn’t have if you died. The most important point I have learnt about euthanasia is the slippery slope argument. The idea that if you legalise euthanasia than involuntary euthanasia will follow.
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Ben a
8/1/2020 09:57:59 pm
should Christians support euthanasia and why ?
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max
9/1/2020 05:38:35 pm
Some Christians believe that euthanasia is wrong. For example, Claire Foster, the CofE policy advisor are against euthanasia. They argue that since Jesus healed people, so we should focus on palliative care for the dying. They would permit the use of the Doctrine of Double Effect, where a person is given Badham a CofE Christian from an organisation called modern church, is for euthanasia in certain cases. The humanist Dr Evan Harris would like to see euthanasia legalised in UK. He argues if animals can be put down, and they cannot give consent, then surely a mentally able person who can for euthanasia should be able to receive it. I have learned all of the countries where euthanasia is legal such as: Belgium, Washington DC state, Switzerland and Holland. In my opinion, I think that euthanasia should be legalised because I believe that if somebody has a life-threatening illness and is most likely to pass away soon they should be allowed to end their life without suffering and a painless death. However, I think to be euthanized you must have a serious illness and not out of choice. Some cases of Christianity support this argument such as Rev. Paul Badham.
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Oscar
10/1/2020 08:01:53 pm
I think Christians should support Euthanasia because although they believe in the Sanctity of Life and that every life is unique and sacred and that God is the only one to take life away from someone. But say if you have a heart attack and that's when God is taking your life but then doctors are there trying to keep you alive it doesn't make much sense. As God is taking your life away yet there are doctors resuscitating you doesn't really make sense. So I have to agree with Revd Paul Badham. Though I do believe in some people's answers, instead of euthanasia such as if one person does want to die due to old age or an illness then possibly going to a hospice as it could be better for them. Though Ultimately I believe that Euthanasia should be legal in the UK.
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jed
12/1/2020 09:28:51 am
Many Christians don’t agree with euthanasia this because they believe that life is a gift from God and birth and death is a process of life what has been created by God so we should respect it. They would also say humans are valuable because they are an image of God. Badham says that Christians say that God chooses when a person’s life ends but they don’t actually think that. If a Christians heart stops beating and is about to die, they will do their best to makes the heart beating again and stop the process of death. However, foster disagrees with badham and says that if euthanasia is legalised it will affect everyone for example euthanasia will become an option instead of the doctor making the patient better. Badham says in the bible it says “love your naboure as yourself” he gives a statistic “80% of people would like to have asstive suicide” so we should we should help them and make it legalised. I agree with badham as I believe euthanasia is a good pain relief with people who are extremely ill and won’t get better
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Sam Dunnett
12/1/2020 08:56:09 pm
Should Christians support euthanasia and why?
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Alec Leslie-smith
13/1/2020 01:01:08 pm
Christians should not support euthanasia this is because Christians strongly believe that we should not interfere with the process of death. They also think it is wrong because they. Believe that all life is sacred and holy because it was given by God in 1 Corinthians 6:19 it says Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; by ending your life you are killing the holy spirit. Humans are told we should not kill meaning if you help euthise someone you are committing a sin.
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Tate Noble
13/1/2020 01:04:22 pm
Most church of england christians support Euthanasia in certain circumstances. The humanist Dr Evan Harris further shows the support of the choice that some people might choose to make that decision. A religious quote that supports this is ‘forgive them father for they know not what the do’ People like Rev Paul Badham explain their fact it hurts someone more to keep them alive in certain instances. People like badham are looking at the fact a gentle death is sometimes better than being alive.
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I think that Christians should not support euthanasia as it goes against bibilical teachings such a though shall not kill and the sanctity of life instead of euthanasia, good palliative care (managing symptoms) should be provided in hospices etc.Christians belive that humans Don’t have the right to take another’s life as that is gods decision to keep a person alive.
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Bronte Frost
13/1/2020 07:21:30 pm
Personally, I think Christians should support Euthanasia. This is because I believe that everyone should be free to do what they want with their lives, and God gave us free will he also believes that we have the right to act/behave the way we choose. But this does come with consequences if the act is illegal/hurtful towards others. For example, helping someone to commit suicide is currently illegal in the UK (Law in the suicide act of 1961), that can give someone up to 14 years in prison due to assistant suicide. Many Christians believe that Euthanasia is wrong as it is interfering with God’s plan and that only God has the right to take away life at a given time, as God gives people life. I don’t agree with this as God gave us free will and with that if someone was to be in pain and suffering, who had no way of recovering, then some people could argue that that person is being tortured. And God does not want us to live our lives like that, so if they would be happier then that’s their choice.
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