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
Royal College of Surgeons drops opposition to assisted dying
Posted: Mon, 19 Jun 2023 08:52
The National Secular Society has welcomed the Royal College of Surgeons' (RCS) decision to adopt a neutral stance on assisted dying.
The RCS provides education and assessment for over 30,000 surgeons. It previously opposed assisted dying, but a survey of members carried out this year showed 72% supported a change in position.
This included 52% who said the RCS should support a law allowing assisted dying and 20% who supported a position of neutrality. The RCS council subsequently voted to adopt a position of neutrality last week.
The RCS now joins the Royal Colleges of Medicine, Physicians, Psychiatrists, and Nursing in taking a neutral stance on assisted dying. The Royal College of GPs is the only remaining college to oppose assisted dying – despite a majority of its membership supporting a change in stance.
The British Medical Association, the UK's largest doctors' union, dropped its opposition to assisted dying in 2021.
Helping someone to end their life, even when they are terminally ill, remains illegal in England and is punishable by up to 14 years' imprisonment. Eighty-four percent of Brits support a change to the law.
The first ever parliamentary inquiry into assisted dying – which the NSS has submitted evidence to – is ongoing.
NSS: 'neutral stance will ensure experts can engage fully with the debate'
NSS campaigns officer Dr Alejandro Sanchez said: "The council's decision moves the RCS much closer to representing the views of the public, who are largely in favour of decriminalisation of assisted dying.
"With its new policy of neutrality, the RCS can now engage fully with any legal developments and will no longer be able to suggest that surgeons are against assisted dying, which is demonstrably untrue."
Assisted dying inquiry: NSS calls for reform
Posted: Thu, 12 Jan 2023 11:33
The National Secular Society has called for reform of the law regarding assisted dying in its submission to a parliamentary inquiry.
In November, the Health and Social Care select committee announced the first ever parliamentary inquiry into assisted dying. Helping someone to die in England and Wales is currently punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The NSS submission made the following arguments:
Patient autonomy
Patient autonomy should underpin any reform to the law, with mentally competent adults able to choose the time, setting and manner of their death. There is scope for reasonable disagreement on the eligibility criteria for accessing assisted dying.
Widespread public support
Polling shows 84% of Brits support legalising assisted dying. An even greater proportion of the disabled community (86%) is in favour of reform and strong support is also seen amongst the religious (80%).
Failings of the current law
Even the best palliative care cannot alleviate all suffering in all cases, with an estimated 5,000 terminally patients a year experiencing no pain relief at all in the final three months of life.
Additionally, serious illness is associated with a higher risk of suicide. For example, suicide rates in patients with low survival cancers are 2.4 times higher than the general population.
The criminalisation of assisted dying is increasing the risk of botched suicides amongst these patients because they lack the expertise to end their own lives peacefully. It also punishes those motivated entirely by compassion who seek to help them.
Travelling abroad to access assisted dying, at an average cost of £10,000, excludes those who are less well off and forces some patients to die earlier than they otherwise would, as they must be still physically able to travel.
Robust safeguards
The current legal framework on assisted dying includes no prospective safeguards for patients. This means the circumstances of assisted suicides in England and Wales are investigated only after the patient's death, when it is too late to protect the patient if suspicions are raised.
By contrast, the last attempted reform of the law brought by Baroness Meacher included robust prospective safeguards: the patient's request would require approval by two doctors and a high court judge.
Safe and effective precedents
Assisted dying was legalised in the US state of Oregon in 1997. Of over 36,000 deaths in Oregon in 2017, only 143 resulted from assisted dying. Reform of the law has not come at the expense of high quality palliative care and not a single complaint of actual or attempted abuse has been recorded by Disability Rights Oregon as of 2018.
Religious opposition to reform
Theological sanctity of life arguments have been a key driver of opposition to greater patient choice at the end of life, with Catholic bishop John Sherrington describing Baroness Meacher's bill as an "unprecedented attack on the sanctity of life".
While everyone should have their say when it comes to assisted dying reform, religious dogma should not be considered a rational, compassionate, or legitimate basis for policy making.
Some religious groups, recognising that sanctity of life arguments increasingly fail to resonate with the public, have sought to disguise their theological opposition to reform. Campaign group 'Better Way', for example, makes arguments against assisted dying couched in secular terms but fails to acknowledge that is it is backed by the charity Christian Action Research and Education.
Legal challenges to assisted dying reform in the UK are increasingly being bank-rolled by US based religious groups. A 2019 judicial review of the Royal College of Physicians' stance on assisted dying was partially funded by Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian organisation that campaigns to "recriminalise homosexuality" in the US.
NSS: The law 'should uphold patient autonomy'
NSS campaigns officer Dr Alejandro Sanchez said: "The law concerning assisted dying should uphold patient autonomy. The religious views of some, however sincerely held, should not restrict the freedoms and choices of others.
"While we recognise there is scope for reasonable disagreement on this issue and welcome intellectually honest debate around it, we urge Committee members to be mindful of theological opponents of assisted dying obfuscating their language, motivations and funding."
The NSS has also responded to a consultation on the implementation of assisted dying in Jersey, after its legislature approved reform in principle in 2021, and a consultation on a proposed bill to legalise assisted dying in the Isle of Man.
