“Terminally ill patients demand respect: ‘We are dying, not suicidal’”

In a powerful open letter to the former Prime Minister, dying patients say they are “not suicidal – we want to live, and to make the most of the time we have left with the people we love.” 

The letter, signed by people living with terminal cancer and other fatal conditions, stresses:

We are not seeking to make a choice between living and dying but between two kinds of death. All we ask is for the choice, safety and peace of mind that legalised assisted dying would bring as we approach the very end of our lives.

Baroness May, speaking during the Second Reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, claimed: “This is not an assisted dying Bill but an assisted suicide Bill… Suicide is not okay. Suicide is wrong. This Bill is wrong. It should not pass.” 

Terminally ill signatories say her comments are “deeply insensitive” and have urged her to meet them in person. “To equate choice and control over the timing and manner of inevitable and imminent death with suicide is deeply insensitive to those of us facing this position,” their letter continues. 

Sarah Wootton, CEO of Dignity in Dying, said: 

 
“Terminally ill people who might choose assisted dying are not suicidal – they are dying. They want to live as long as possible, but they know death is coming. To label their plea for a humane, peaceful death as ‘suicide’ is deeply inappropriate and harmful. It insults dying people by suggesting they simply ‘want to die’, when in fact they are trying to avoid horrific suffering. Dying people I have spoken to feel that Baroness May’s remarks lack compassion and understanding. We urge her to retract those comments and actually listen to those living through terminal illness.” 

Sophie Blake, a single mother in her fifties with stage 4 breast cancer and signatory of the letter, said: 

 
“I’m a single mum to a teenage daughter and I never want my suffering to be her last memory. At the moment, terminally ill people face what could be the most horrific, horrendous deaths – that’s what this Bill is about. Wanting the choice of assisted dying doesn’t mean I want to die, it means I don’t want to die horribly. To conflate assisted dying with suicide is not just semantics – it’s deeply cruel. We are not suicidal, we are dying. We deserve the chance to face our final days with safety, peace of mind and dignity, not stigma.” 

FULL TEXT OF LETTER AND SIGNATORIES 

Dear Baroness May,

As terminally ill people we listened with dismay as you described assisted dying as suicide during the debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.  

We are not suicidal – we want to live, and to make the most of the time we have left with the people we love. But we are dying and we have no choice or ability to change that. We are not seeking to make a choice between living and dying but between two kinds of death. All we ask is for the choice, safety and peace of mind that legalised assisted dying would bring as we approach the very end of our lives.  

To equate choice and control over the timing and manner of inevitable and imminent death with suicide is deeply insensitive to those of us facing this position. We hope that you and other peers will reflect on your choice of words as the Bill progresses through the House of Lords.  

We would welcome the opportunity to meet and talk to you about our concerns.  

Yours sincerely,  

Nathaniel Dye 

Sophie Blake  

Pamela Fisher  

Shafaq Sikandar  

Sally Morawetz  

Helen Skelton  

Christie Arntsen  

Gilly McKeane  

Tracey Iles  

Elise Burns  

Jenny Carruthers  

Steve Gibson  

Celia Forsyth