A jury of 28 people in England have called for legalising assisting dying for people who are terminally ill.
Twenty jurors said that ‘ending pain and ensuring dignity’ were their top reasons for supporting the change in law. Seven of the jurors disagreed and one person was undecided.
Anne Kerr, the chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB), an independent policy and research centre that commissioned the jury, said: ‘The jury findings indicate broad support for a change in the law in England, with some important details about what this should involve. This is a significant finding that will be valuable for policymakers who are considering whether and how to take forward legislative change.’
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Thirty jurors were selected from 7,000 invitations sent to randomly selected households across England. They met between April and June, spending a total of about 24 hours exploring and deliberating on the issues. They were asked to consider whether the law on assisted dying should be changed and explain what it would include and exclude.
Those in favour supported both assisted suicide, where healthcare professionals would prescribe lethal drugs to be taken by eligible patients, and voluntary euthanasia, where a healthcare professional would administer lethal drugs. The seven jurors against the law warned that assisted dying could be used for the wrong reasons, misinterpreted, misused, and could result in less funding for palliative care.
More than two dozen jurisdictions around the world – including New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, 10 states in the US and all six states in Australia – allow some form of assisted dying. Bills to legalise assisted dying are now going through parliaments in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Scotland.
However, some campaigners have expressed concern about the potential change in the law. Gordon Macdonald, the CEO of Care Not Killing, said: ‘At a time when we see how quickly safeguards in countries like Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands have been eroded so disabled people and those with mental health problems, even eating disorders, are now being euthanised, I would strongly urge the government to focus on fixing our broken palliative care system … rather than discussing again this dangerous and ideological policy.’
In the UK, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has pledged support to a change in the law in England and has committed to holding a vote on it. Charlie Falconer, the former Labour justice secretary had published a Lords’ private member’s bill to legalise assisted dying, which is expected to be debated in mid-November.