Dignity in Dying responds to the news of the death of Dame Esther Rantzen

Throughout her life, Dame Esther fought for people’s rights: for children, for older people and latterly, for dying people who needed more choice and compassion, a cause she championed right up to her death. She spoke bravely about her experience and her family’s own pain, but only so that those without a public voice could be heard. She used her platform to speak truth to power and gave a voice to so many other terminally ill and bereaved people across the country. We owe Dame Esther and her daughter Rebecca Wilcox, broadcaster and inimitable campaigner, a huge debt of gratitude for their tireless efforts to challenge a status quo they saw was broken; efforts which undoubtedly helped bring the UK closer than ever before to a safe, compassionate assisted dying law. In Dame Esther’s memory, and in the memory of too many others who have died while fighting for choice, we will not rest until dying people in this country finally have the choice and protection they want and need.