We support patient autonomy and work to protect patients from the imposition of other people's personal religious views.
There is widespread support amongst the public for a compassionate law that permits assisted dying under certain circumstances.
But religious lobbying exerts a disproportionate influence on the debate on assisted dying, frustrating much-needed reform.
Assisted dying (AD) is when a person chooses to be given help to die, usually because they are terminally ill and suffering unbearably.
AD is legal in a growing number of countries around the world. In all these jurisdictions there are strict guidelines and safeguards to ensure AD is not misused. Where AD is an option, it complements palliative care rather than replacing it.
AD is not explicitly legal anywhere in the UK. Terminally ill people who wish to end their suffering more quickly have very few options.
Travelling to a country where their death can be assisted legally isn't a viable option for most, due to the high expense and the difficulties in travelling with a terminal illness. What's more, friends and relatives who accompany or help someone travel abroad for AD may be prosecuted.
Terminally ill people in the UK may therefore resort to taking their own life, leading to botched suicides, or asking the help of loved ones. This puts friends and relatives in a horrendous position: either they must watch their loved one suffer, or they must help them die and risk jail in the process.
The largest poll ever conducted on assisted dying found 84% of people in Britain support a change in the law. This includes 82% of Christians and 90% of nonreligious people.
Many regard refusing people a final relief from unbearable suffering as a harmful act. But strong opposition to AD comes from religious leaders who think AD goes against the will of their gods.
We support the democratic right of all people to contribute to the debate on AD. But policy decisions should be guided by evidence, compassion and respect for the principle of patient autonomy, rather than religious dogma. The views of the general public, professionals and relevant organisations should be fairly reflected at policy level.
Within the National Secular Society, individual members hold a range of views about AD. All are agreed that religious privilege should have no place in the decision-making process.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Ask your MP to support properly regulated assisted dying.
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Assisted dying on track to be legalised in Isle of Man
Posted: Wed, 1 Nov 2023 11:03
Access to assisted dying could become available as soon as 2025.
NSS: doctors not declaring faith group links in union debates
Posted: Thu, 22 Jun 2023 11:48
Representatives of the UK's largest doctors' union are failing to declare ties with faith groups opposed to assisted dying, the NSS has said.
The NSS wrote to the British Medical Association (BMA) this week to raise concerns that several representatives who are members of the Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF) failed to declare this at the 2021 Annual Representative Meeting.
During the Annual Representative Meeting (ARM), members debate and vote on BMA policy. The BMA says any potential conflict of interest should declared before participating in ARM debates.
One CMF member made a contribution on assisted dying so inaccurate that the BMA had to issue a written clarification in its recording of the debate.
A CMF publication argues "the Christian case against medical killing".
In 2019, doctors with ties to the CMF launched a failed legal challenge to stop the Royal College of Physicians adopting a position of neutrality on assisted dying. Their case was supported by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, a conservative Christian lobby group deemed an "anti-LGBT hate group" in the US.
Baroness Ilora Finlay has contributed to a number of ARM debates on assisted dying in recent years but has failed to declare as an interest that the anti-assisted dying lobby group she co-founded, Living and Dying Well, has received funding from the Catholic Church for its activities.
The NSS asked the BMA how it planned to address representatives failing to disclose relevant conflicts of interest.
Eighty-four percent of Brits support a change in law to allow assisted dying.
NSS: 'a diversity of views is welcome but delegates must declare relevant conflicts of interest'
NSS campaigns officer Dr Alejandro Sanchez said: "We support the inclusion of a wide diversity of views during debate, but efforts to subvert the democratic mandate of the ARM by failing to declare highly relevant conflicts of interest should not be treated lightly.
"Individuals who participate in these debates should make their fellow delegates aware of their association with faith groups that have a history of campaigning against end-of-life choice."
Image by Darko Stojanovic from Pixabay
