The British Humanist Association (BHA) has responded to reports that police are to investigate TV presenter Ray Gosling, following his claim that he smothered his terminally ill lover as a result of a pact with him.
Andrew Copson, BHA Chief Executive, commented, ‘Every time a story like this comes to public attention it reinforces the need for an urgent change in the UK law on assisted dying. Nobody should be put in a position where they feel they have no other option than to ask a loved one to help them die should their suffering become unbearable. We believe that legalising assisted dying in UK, with strict safeguards in place, is the most rational and most ethically preferable option, empowering people to make choices over their end-of-life care, including the choice to have an assisted death if they want.’
‘Our elected representatives in Parliament need to take urgent action to make serious reforms to the law, both to protect vulnerable people and to enable people who are terminally ill or otherwise incurably suffering to make autonomous choices at end of life.’
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For further comment or information, please contact Andrew Copson, 020 7079 3583, 020 3675 0959.
The law on assisted dying in the UK does not distinguish between those who compassionately assist another to die, including where they have accompanied them abroad for a legal assisted death, and those who kill with malicious intent.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) will soon be publishing final guidelines on what circumstances he will take into account when deciding whether to prosecute somebody who has assisted another to die.
Read more about the BHA’s work on reforming the law on assisted dying.
The British Humanist Association is the national charity representing and supporting the interests of ethically concerned, non-religious people in the UK.