Nathan Stilwell
Nathan Stilwell is the assisted dying campaigner for Humanists UK, as well as the secretariat for the Assisted Dying CoalitionWe must never forget that the reason we are discussing assisted dying in the first place is because people in the UK are facing horrendous end-of-life experiences – until people are given a choice at the end of their lives, that conversation is never going to stop. In this exclusive op-ed, Nathan Stilwell highlights the urgent need for assisted dying reform in the UK, emphasising the suffering caused by current laws and lessons from compassionate practices abroad.
The Horrifying Reality of the Status Quo
In one of my first weeks working at Humanists UK, a man called the office asking to speak to me, saying he had inoperable skin cancer and wanted to die. I remember being absolutely clueless about what to say. He told me it hurt just to pick up the phone and that painkillers no longer had an effect. He wouldn’t give me his name or address, he just wanted me to speak to a doctor or someone who could help him end his life. I feel sorry that he had to speak to such a novice who could do nothing to help him – he never phoned back.
Unfortunately, if that same man rang again today, despite years passing and my understanding of the issue improving tenfold, it would still be the same devastating response. There is nothing I can do. The law at the moment specifically criminalises assisting or encouraging a suicide. If I tell someone to simply ‘Google it’, I’m breaking the law. It’s a human instinct to want to help, and it’s horrifying that the law stops this.
The law robs individuals of the choice of a dignified death and cheats their loved ones out of the peaceful chance to comfort them at the end, say goodbye and grieve. Dirk Vervoorts wanted to die a private and peaceful death, surrounded by his loved ones. Instead, because he openly and honestly expressed his wish to die, he took his last breaths in a bedroom full of police officers with police cars parked outside his home. Mandy Appleyard wanted to grieve the loss of her mother who she accompanied to Switzerland for an assisted death. Instead, for her act of love and compassion, she was treated as a criminal and investigated for two years.
This entire debate exists because the current system is broken.
From the Personal Stories to Clear Evidence
These aren’t anecdotes – they are the real, lived experiences of people living in the UK. More than one person a week is forced to end their life abroad, but that is only available to people with the funds and the physical ability to do so, making the current system discriminatory.
People are engaging in suicide pacts or mercy killings, a UK coroner said we can expect more and more of these traumatising deaths until we see some proper legislation.
Dying people are taking their own lives – people with a terminal illness are twice as likely to die by suicide and it is estimated that 650 terminally ill people do so a year and ten times that figure attempt suicide. These stats paint a horrifying picture of our end of life in the UK.
Refusing treatment, food and water is also legal in the UK, and many terminally ill people do it at the very end of their lives. Remember, all of this is happening without regulation and without safeguards.
You can’t ban assisted dying, you can only ban people doing it safely.
Even Some Natural Deaths Can Be Devastating
Despite the fact that the UK has the best-ranked palliative care system in the world, palliative care cannot ease everyone’s suffering. No doctor would ever claim they could ease all pain, and palliative care is no different.
The Office of Health Economics found that even if everyone received the best possible palliative care, at least 5,000 people per year would die without any effective pain relief in their final three months, and over 50,000 would be dying with some level of pain.
Looking Abroad
Recently, I ran into a young Dutch couple on holiday who asked me what I did. I meekly explained that my job is to campaign to change the law on assisted dying. They listened, jaws dropped and the man asked me ‘What, in the UK you just let dying people suffer?’. Their shock stayed with me. Assisted dying has been legal in the Netherlands for over 20 years. This young couple had grown up with the practice being available their entire lives, and it shocked them that some other progressive, forward-thinking countries were still so far behind.
In my work, I’ve spoken to doctors who are involved in this process in Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, the US and Australia. Despite these people being on different corners of the globe, all working in different and unique laws on assisted dying, doctors who assess individuals for eligibility recount the same thing. When a person is given the ‘green light’ to have an assisted death, their shoulders drop, they release a sigh of relief and they relax. They may never go through with it, but they know if the pain and suffering get too much, a choice is available.
Final Thought: My Body, My Choice
At the end of the day if the law changes, dying people will finally have a choice at the end of their lives. If the law doesn’t change, the suffering won’t stop and therefore the debate, and campaign, will continue.
At Humanists UK, we want a tolerant world where rational thinking and kindness prevail. We work to support lasting change for a better society, championing ideas for the one life we have. Founded in 1896, we are trusted to promote humanism by 130,000 members and supporters and over 120 members of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group. Our expert policy team, drawing on external academic and legal support, play a significant role in shaping public policy in the UK.
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