A serious assist

Assisted dying laws in the UK

Assisted dying or assisted suicide is currently not legal in any part of the UK or its three Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey (which includes Alderney and Sark) and the Isle of Man.

The law states that: “It is an offence (in England and Wales) to assist or encourage another person’s suicide under section 2(1) of the Suicide Act 1961.” In addition, it says that: “Euthanasia is illegal across the UK under the Homicide Act 1957 and could be prosecuted as murder or manslaughter.”

Similar laws also exist in Northern Ireland, and while Scotland has no specific crime of assisting a suicide, people who are suspected of doing so could potentially be prosecuted for more general offences including murder, assault or offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

However, a new bill could pave the way for Scotland to become the first UK nation to allow assisted dying.

Assisted dying changes in Scotland

In September 2021, Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur proposed the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, which sought to “enable competent adults who are terminally ill to be provided at their request with assistance to end their life”.

The consultation stage of the Bill proposal process received over 14,000 responses from individuals and organisations – which the Government said is the largest response for a Member’s Bill since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. According to the consultation summary, a “clear majority” of respondents (76 per cent) were supportive of the proposal, with two per cent partially supportive, 21 per cent fully opposed and 0.4 per cent partially opposed.

The Scottish Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill has also received the support required (at least another 18 MSPs supporting it) for it to have the right to be introduced and is set to be debated in the Scottish Parliament this autumn.

Assisted dying changes in Jersey

Jersey and the Isle of Man are part of the British Isles but set their own laws, with both islands currently considering proposals to allow assisted dying.

In Jersey, a petition calling for the States Assembly to amend Jersey law and allow assisted dying was launched in 2018 and received 1,861 signatures. The petition was followed by an online public survey, a GP and doctors’ survey and a public meeting, all of which indicated public support for proposals to legalise assisted dying or assisted suicide.

A Citizens’ Jury report, published in September 2021, concluded that 78 per cent of members agreed assisted dying should be permitted in Jersey where a resident, aged 18 or over, has a terminal illness or is experiencing unbearable suffering and wishes to end their life; subject to stringent safeguards including a pre-approval process; a mandatory period of reflection and consideration; and with the direct assistance from doctors or nurses only.

The next step for the Jersey States Assembly is to lodge proposals for a debate to confirm proposals for an “assisted dying service” in Jersey and, should the States Assembly approve these proposals, a draft law will be prepared.

Assisted dying changes in the Isle of Man

A Private Member’s Bill aimed at legalising assisted dying or assisted suicide in the Isle of Man passed its second reading on 31 October 2023 and commenced its Committee stage on 7 November 2023.

The Bill – which followed a public consultation, and received 3,326 responses – seeks to “enable certain adults who are terminally ill to be provided at their request with specified assistance to end their own life; and for connected purposes”. Similar to the proposal in Jersey, it sets out that to be eligible to apply the person must have been “ordinarily resident in the Island for not less than one year”.

Health and Social Care Committee report

Proposals on assisted dying were last rejected by the UK Government in July 2022 but the topic is not going away.

Data from the Swiss assisted dying organisation Dignitas show that 40 people from the UK travelled there to die last year, and it has helped 571 Brits to end their own lives since 1998.

However, a recent inquiry into assisted dying and assisted suicide by the Health and Social Care Committee found continuing confusion among UK doctors, surrounding the rules for providing medical evidence for people who want to go abroad to die, with The British Medical Association (BMA) advising doctors against doing this at all.

The Committee’s subsequent report on assisted dying/assisted suicide published in March this year considered more than 68,000 responses made by members of the public, and more than 380 pieces of written evidence submitted to its inquiry since its launch in December 2022.

The report identified the pursuit of high-quality compassionate end-of-life care as a common theme in the evidence received, noting that despite the UK being a world leader in palliative and end-of-life care, “access and provision of such care is patchy”. Resultingly, the Committee recommends the Government “ensures universal coverage of palliative and end-of-life services, including hospice care at home, and more specialists in palliative care and end-of-life pain relief”.

With assisted dying and assisted suicide currently being considered in Jersey and the Isle of Man, the Committee concluded that the Government should be “actively involved in discussions” on how to approach possible divergence in legislation between jurisdictions, as well as calling for new guidance from the GMC and the BMA “to provide clarity” to doctors on responding to requests for medical reports for applicants seeking assisted dying and assisted suicide abroad.

Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, Steve Brine MP, said the inquiry “raised the most complex issues” that the committee has faced, but that he hoped the report would act as a “comprehensive basis” for future debate in both Houses of Parliament.

For and against assisted dying

The BMA and the Royal College of Nursing take neutral positions on assisted dying, but there are prominent public figures who hold strong opinions on either side of the debate.

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson has voiced concern that vulnerable people could be coerced into assisted dying, whereas broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen has been campaigning to support assisted dying, after revealing her own diagnosis of lung cancer last year and joining Dignitas. Nathan Stilwell, secretariat for the Assisted Dying Coalition – the UK and Crown Dependencies coalition of organisations working in favour of legal recognition of the right to die, for individuals who have a clear and settled wish to end their life and who are terminally ill or facing incurable suffering – says: “Adults of sound mind, who are intolerably suffering from a physical, incurable condition deserve the freedom and right to have a dignified end-of-life choice on their own terms. 31 jurisdictions around the world, accessible to nearly 400 million people, prove that compassionate options are available.”