We have long supported attempts to legalise assisted dying and voluntary euthanasia in the UK and crown dependencies for those who have made a clear decision, free from coercion, to end their lives and who are physically unable to do so themselves.
In many cases, the person in question will be terminally ill. However, we do not think that there is a strong moral case to limit assistance to terminally ill people alone and campaign for a change in the law that would be responsive to the needs of other people who are permanently and incurably suffering.
Humanists defend the right of each individual to live by their own personal values, and the freedom to make decisions about their own life so long as this does not result in harm to others. Humanists do not share the attitudes to death and dying held by some religious believers, in particular that the manner and time of death are for a deity to decide, and that interference in the course of nature is unacceptable. We firmly uphold the right to life but we recognise that this right carries with it the right of each individual to make his or her own judgement about whether his or her life should be prolonged in the face of pointless suffering.
We believe that the current law against assisted dying disregards the needs and autonomy of patients because many people are already helped to die by doctors or nurses, but without the safeguards that legislation would bring; or, families are often forced to make an intolerable choice between either letting their loved ones suffer, or supporting them and risking criminal investigation; and well over 200 UK citizens have had no option but to die abroad since 2015.
