Parliament to debate problems with blanket ban on assisted dying

Ann Whaley and other families attend to watch Parliament debate assisted dying for first time since rejection of Marris Bill in 2015

The first major Commons debate on assisted dying since 2015 will take place on Thursday 4 July 2019. The debate has been prompted by the case of Ann and Geoffrey Whaley, and will explore the functioning of the current law relating to assisted dying and the issues it causes for terminally ill people and their families.

Geoffrey Whaley, 80, from Buckinghamshire, died at Dignitas in Switzerland on 7 February 2019. He had terminal motor neurone disease and in December was told he had just months left to live. He decided that he wished to control his death rather than suffer what he considered to be a drawn-out, traumatic end. Due to an anonymous call to local authorities that Geoffrey planned to end his life abroad, he and his wife Ann, 76, were both investigated by police and social services. The family feared that Geoffrey would be prevented from travelling or that Ann might be arrested for ‘assisting a suicide’, a crime which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years.

Ann recently launched Acts of Love, a campaign that brings together families across the country who have been affected by the current law on assisted dying. Ann, along with Nick Boles MP and Sarah Wootton of Dignity in Dying, met with the Justice Secretary David Gauke MP in June. There they pressed for the government to examine the problems with the current law and the consequences for families like hers.

Nick Boles, who will introduce the debate, said:

“Ann and Geoff’s experiences in the weeks leading up to Geoff’s death have shown more clearly than ever the cruel effects of Britain’s blanket ban on assisted dying. Today’s debate will give MPs a chance to debate the impact of the current law on hundreds of families like the Whaleys every year and help build the case for a change in the law so that thousands of others are spared this torment in the years to come.”

Karin Smyth MP, Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Choice at the End of Life, said:

“In February I was privileged to host a meeting with the Whaleys, when they came to tell MPs about the dreadful impact our laws had on them as a family. For Ann to be interviewed under caution for simply helping her husband of more than fifty years to have the death he wants cannot be right.

“Not only does their story show that we must do better for dying people in this country, we must do much better for the public servants who are forced to try and enforce this broken law. To ask police officers to intrude on a law-abiding family in the last days and weeks before the loss of their loved ones will put them under enormous emotional strain. When we continue to criminalise simple acts of love, giving dying people choice at the end of life, we cannot claim to be a compassionate country.”

Sarah Wootton, Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying, said:

“Ann and Geoffrey are not alone in feeling the dreadful effects of the UK’s broken law on assisted dying. Compassion is not a crime, yet families across the country have been made to feel like criminals for acting out of love for a dying loved one. Others did not have the funds or means to act and instead watching helplessly as a relative suffered a traumatic death or took drastic steps to end their own life. MPs need to hear these stories.

“Medical organisations are shifting their positions. The Royal College of Physicians has this year decided to take a neutral view on assisted dying, while the British Medical Association and the Royal College of GPs have recently announced that they will survey their members on the issue. The US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand all have, or are moving towards having, assisted dying laws that grant their terminally ill citizens true choice at the end of life.

“It is high time that MPs have a detailed, respectful debate on this important issue and I hope that they will listen to constituents’ experiences with an open mind. It is also time for Government to act on our broken laws and hold an inquiry into the devastation caused to dying people and their families across the UK.”

Ann Whaley said:

“I am delighted that the Commons has granted the opportunity to discuss this important matter, particularly at such a busy time for Parliament. Geoffrey’s dying wish was for me to continue his legacy by telling his story and I hope that MPs will come to the debate and listen to his and the other stories behind the Acts of Love campaign.”

***ENDS***

Notes to editor:

For further information and interviews with people with personal experiences or with representatives of Dignity in Dying, please contact:

Tom Davies at thomas.davies@dignityindying.org.uk / 0207 479 7734 / 07725 433 025 or Davina Hehir at davina.hehir@dignityindying.org.uk / 020 7479 7738

The debate

• The debate will take place on Thursday 4 July 2019 in the Main Chamber of the House of Commons. The motion is a neutral one: That this House has considered the functioning of the existing law relating to assisted dying.
• Nick Boles MP, co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Choice at the End of Life, made the successful application alongside Sarah Champion MP and Sir Norman Lamb MP.

Healthcare professionals

• The British Medical Association announced on 25 June 2019 that it will survey its 160,000 members on assisted dying. This will be the first time it has done so. The BMA is currently opposed to a change in the law on assisted dying. Its policy is decided at its Annual Representative Meeting, which voted on 25th June by 193 votes to 113 in favour of the survey.
• The Royal College of General Practitioners announced on 22 June 2019 that it will survey its own 50,000 members on assisted dying. The College is currently opposed to a change in the law on assisted dying.
• The Royal College of Physicians dropped its longstanding opposition to assisted dying in March 2019 following a survey of its 36,000 members.

International developments

• New Zealand is currently considering an End of Life Choice Bill which passed second reading on Wednesday 26 June 2019.
• Victoria became the first Australian state to legalise assisted dying as an option for terminally ill citizens on 19 June 2019. The Government of Western Australia plan to introduce an Assisted Dying Bill in their state Parliament in the second half of 2019.
• The American states of Maine and New Jersey passed assisted dying laws on 13 June 2019 and 15 April 2019 respectively. They will be implemented in the coming months.
• Assisted dying as an option for terminally ill, mentally competent adults in their final months of life is currently legal in eight US jurisdictions: Oregon (1997), Washington, Vermont, Montana, the District of Columbia, California, Colorado and Hawaii (January 2019).
  Canada legalised medical aid in dying (MAID) in June 2016.

The law on assisted dying in the UK

• Assisted dying is prohibited in England and Wales under the Suicide Act (1961), and in Northern Ireland under the Criminal Justice Act (1966) which states that anyone who “encourages or assists a suicide” is liable to up to 14 years in prison. There is no specific crime of assisting a suicide in Scotland, but it is possible that helping a person to die could lead to prosecution for culpable homicide.
• In February 2010, following the Debbie Purdy case, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) issued the prosecuting policy on cases of ‘Encouraging or Assisting Suicide’. It covers actions that happen in England and Wales, even if the death happens abroad. The policy includes a list of public interest factors that will influence whether or not someone is prosecuted for assisting suicide. The policy states that in cases of encouraging or assisting suicide, prosecutors must apply the public interest factors in making their decision about whether or not to prosecute. A prosecution will usually take place unless the prosecutor is sure that there are sufficient public interest factors against it.
• A prosecution is less likely if the person made a voluntary, informed decision to end their life, and if the assister was wholly motivated by compassion.
• A prosecution is more likely if the person ending their own life was under 18, lacked capacity to make an informed decision about ending their life or was physically able to end their life without assistance. The assister is more likely to be prosecuted if they had a history of violence or abuse against the person they assisted, were unknown to the person, were paid by the person ending their own life, or were acting as a healthcare professional.

The true cost of the current law

• Currently, every 8 days [1] someone travels to Switzerland from Britain for a legal assisted death – a process which costs £10,000 on average [2] and often causes people to die earlier than they would have wanted in order to be well enough to make the journey.
• Polling has found that over half (53%) of Brits would consider travelling abroad for an assisted death if terminally ill and two-thirds (66%) would consider breaking the law to help a loved one do so, yet only a quarter (25%) would be able to afford it [3]. A further 300 terminally ill people end their own life in the UK every year [4].

About Dignity in Dying

• Dignity in Dying campaigns for greater choice, control and access to services at the end of life. It campaigns within the law to change the law, to allow assisted dying as an option for terminally ill, mentally competent adults with six months or less to live – something supported by 84% of the public [5].
• Dignity in Dying does not provide practical assistance or advice in ending life, nor does it provide enquirers with the contact details of organisations who do so.

[1] Estimated using publicly available figures from Dignitas and figures supplied through private correspondence with the Life Circle (Eternal Spirit) facility.
[2] The True Cost: How the UK outsources death to Dignitas – Dignity in Dying, November 2017.
[3] Polling conducted by YouGov, August 2017.
[4] A Hidden Problem: Suicide by terminally ill people – Dignity in Dying, October 2014.
[5] Polling conducted by Populus, March 2019.