Progress with Legalising Physician Assisted Dying in England

Abstract

I became interested in helping with this in 2001. This occurred as a result of my friendship with Lord Joffe, who had introduced 2 Bills in the House of Lords, neither of which succeeded. I was particularly attracted by the concept of having the option of control over when and how I would die if I were suffering uncontrollably at the end of a terminal illness. At that time the majority of the medical profession was against this, so I joined Dignity in Dying and was given the task of trying to help doctors reach a more positive view about the benefits associated with physician assisted dying. To this end we formed a subcommittee, “Healthcare Professionals for Assisted Dying”. We organized lectures and debates around the regions and brought our message, when given the chance, to the Annual Representatives Meeting of the British Medical Association. Progress has been slow but rewarding and at the last ARM a vote for neutrality rather than opposition was passed. This has also been adopted by several of the main Royal Colleges of medicine.