Tonight sees the broadcast of How to Die: Simon’s Choice, a documentary detailing motor neurone disease sufferer Simon Binner’s final moments leading up to his death at an assisted dying clinic in Switzerland. Prior to his death in October last year the British Humanist Association (BHA) worked with Simon to help him speak out in favour of a change in law here in the UK.
In advance of the broadcast of the documentary, BHA Director of Public Affairs Pavan Dhaliwal commented: ‘Simon’s story is a tragedy, both in terms of the horrific disease he suffered before his death, and the UK laws that made that suffering all the worse. The fact that he had to travel to Switzerland in order to end his pain added significantly to the emotional strain placed on him and his family in his final days.
‘It is long past time the law is changed to make it possible for individuals such as Simon, who are terminally ill or incurably suffering and who have a clear and settled wish to end their lives, to be able to do that here in the UK. That is something we will continue to work for.’
How to Die: Simon’s Choice will be shown at 9 pm on BBC Two.
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For further comment or information contact BHA Director of Public Affairs and Policy Pavan Dhaliwal at pavan@humanists.uk or on 0773 843 5059.
Read more about the BHA’s work on assisted dying: https://humanists.uk/campaigns/public-ethical-issues/assisted-dying/
The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people who seek to live ethically and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity. It promotes a secular state and equal treatment in law and policy of everyone, regardless of religion of belief.