Assisted dying: policy briefing

We believe that any adult of sound mind who is intolerably suffering from an incurable, physical condition and has a clear and settled wish to die should have the option of an assisted death. We have this position because humanists believe in freedom of choice, so long as that choice does not result in harm to others. We believe it is possible to bring about assisted dying while preventing such harm.

In Westminster, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has passed through the House of Commons and is now before the House of Lords. The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, which our colleagues at Humanist Society Scotland are supporting, has passed its initial vote and is now facing amendments. The Isle of Man Assisted Dying Bill passed its final vote in March 2025, and is now awaiting royal assent. The Jersey States Assembly passed its final vote in February 2026 and is now awaiting royal assent.

In depth

Why does Humanists UK work to see a change in the law?

Humanists defend the right of each individual to live by their own personal values, and the freedom to make decisions about their own life so long as this does not result in harm to others. Humanists do not share the attitudes to death and dying held by some religious believers, in particular that the manner and time of death are for a deity to decide, and that interference in the course of nature is unacceptable. We firmly uphold the right to life but we recognise that this right carries with it the right of each individual to make their own judgement about whether their life should be prolonged in the face of pointless suffering.

Given this, it is unsurprising that YouGov polling has found that 86% of non-religious people and 93% of self-identifying humanists support assisted dying. 85% of our supporters tell us this campaign is very or highly important to them, with only 7% saying the opposite.

We recognise that any assisted dying law must contain strong safeguards, but the international evidence from countries where assisted dying is legal shows that safeguards can be effective. We also believe that the choice of assisted dying should not be considered an alternative to palliative care, but should be offered together as in many other countries.

Why should you support a change in the law?

Compassion: Our current laws are unsafe
Hundreds of terminally ill people a year are dying through suicide, mercy killings, suicide pacts, doctors giving excess morphine, or by going to Switzerland. This is unregulated and unsafe. Every single Director of Public Prosecutions has said the law is broken. Parliament’s role is to consider how to introduce safeguards for something already happening, not to decide whether it should be happening in the first place.

Dignity: Shortening death and suffering
Passing the proposed laws will give dying adults the choice and dignity of a compassionate death within the law. People with terminal illnesses can be at peace, knowing that if, unfortunately, their suffering becomes too great, they have a dignified option.

Safety: Safeguarded assisted dying laws exist globally
For decades, countries have developed laws to prevent misuse and protect the vulnerable. Over 30 jurisdictions, like Oregon, Switzerland, Spain, and Australia, show that it is possible to do so.

Empathy: Assisted dying eases suffering and fear
A compassionate law would offer relief from unnecessary distress. 20 people a day die in unrelieved pain, even with the best end-of-life care.

Autonomy: Dying with dignity on one’s own terms
It’s your death and it should be your decision. No-one else should have the right to stop your choosing a safe and painless death. As Terry Pratchett said: ‘Either we have control over our lives, or we do not.’

Democracy: The majority supports change
74% of British adults favour assisted dying. It’s time for the law to reflect public sentiment.

England and Wales: The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Assisted dying is still illegal in the UK. A Bill called the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is currently going through Parliament that would give adults in England and Wales who have six months left to live or fewer the option of an assisted death. It’s a Private Members’ Bill, meaning it’s an individual politician trying to change the law, rather than the Government (which is neutral on assisted dying).

Members of the House of Commons have approved the Bill, and it is now in the House of Lords, where further changes are possible. If both houses agree, the Bill will become law and the Government will have a maximum of four years to bring it into force.

How will the Bill work?
To be eligible for an assisted death, a person must be:

• 18 years old
• A resident of England and Wales
• Dying from a terminal illness that will end their life in six months or fewer
• Have full mental capacity and ‘a clear, settled and informed wish to end their own life’.

In order to access an assisted death, the person must:

1. Make a witnessed, written declaration
2. Have an assessment by a doctor with specific training
3. Wait seven days
4. Have a second assessment by an independent doctor with training
5. Wait 14 days
6. Be approved by a panel consisting of a lawyer, psychiatrist, and social worker
7. If approved, one of the assessing doctors must provide the medication and stay with them until they die. The patient must take the medication themselves.

At every interaction with a panel or medical professional, the patient is being tested for capacity and coercion. As per standard medical practice, a medical professional should contact a safeguarding team if they suspect any level of abuse.

All doctors and panel members must have training in domestic abuse, including coercive control and financial abuse.

A person who, by dishonesty, coercion or pressure, induces another person to have an assisted death would face lifetime imprisonment.

International evidence:
Over 30 jurisdictions around the world have safe assisted dying laws. Three further jurisdictions, including the Isle of Man, have passed legislation and are awaiting implementation.

A 14-month inquiry into assisted dying by the Health and Social Care Committee found that palliative care improves in countries with assisted dying laws.

There is no evidence that assisted dying laws have led to coercion or the devaluation of vulnerable individuals: A landmark survey of 20 years of evidence from Oregon found no evidence of this happening. Over ten studies have explored this question, looking at data from all around the world where assisted dying is legal. No study has found evidence of harm, disproportionate impact, or a slippery slope in protection.

What do we think about the Bill?
We fully support the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Nevertheless, we believe that there is always more to be done to make legislation more compassionate.

As politicians continue to examine changes to the Bill, we think they should be posing themselves the following questions, as a framework for a good assisted dying law.

Eligibility: can the people who need it, access it?

Any assisted dying bill must make sure that the people who are truly in need can access the assistance they need to end their lives with dignity.

Process: will it put the patient’s needs first and not be unduly onerous for patients?

The criteria for a case to be considered for assisted dying should be rigorous and only allow for consideration if the person chooses this option, a genuine last resort, once all other options have been explored. The procedure to consider an assisted death should be transparent and set out publicly.

Nevertheless, the process must not be so bureaucratic or difficult that patients die while waiting for approval or attempting to navigate the system. It must be borne in mind that by definition, the person is dying and wants to spend their final days with loved ones, rather than endless assessments and paperwork.

Safeguards: will it be safe and will it be equitable?

There is consensus about the need for strong and sufficient safeguards. Vulnerable people must be protected from any form of familial or societal pressure. The system must be designed to be inclusive so that no one is unfairly excluded or discriminated against based on their background, disability, or personal circumstances.

One place where we think the Bill isn’t perfect is in the restriction to just those with six months or fewer to live. More than half of UK residents travelling to Switzerland for assisted deaths would likely not be eligible. Slow, degenerative conditions like Parkinson’s, Motor Neurone Disease, and Multiple Sclerosis would often not be classed as terminal, or the patient would lose mental capacity before they could become eligible. Others, like those with locked-in syndrome, such as Tony Nicklinson, face no end in suffering and yet the law won’t help them.

Scotland: Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, which our colleagues at Humanist Society Scotland are supporting, passed its Stage 1 vote in May 2025. It is now facing amendments in Stage 2. The Bill would allow terminally ill adults to access assisted deaths, with no time limit on how long they have left to live. Two doctors will need to approve each assisted death.

Isle of Man: Assisted Dying Bill

The Isle of Man Assisted Dying Bill passed its final vote in March 2025, becoming the first part of the UK to do so. The Bill is now awaiting royal assent, expected later in 2025. Humanists UK presented to members of the Tynwald ahead of the debates. Those who are terminally ill with twelve months or fewer to live will be able to access assisted dying, and two doctors will need to approve each assisted death.

Jersey: Draft Assisted Dying Law

In 2024 the Jersey States Assembly voted in principle in favour of assisted dying, the Draft Law has been published and a final vote is expected in early 2026. The vote was preceded by a citizens’ jury, which Humanists UK gave oral evidence to. It recommended the Bill be for terminally ill and incurably suffering people, but States Members subsequently voted for it to be limited to just those who are terminally ill with six months left to live or twelve months for those with neurodegenerative conditions. Two doctors will need to approve each assisted death.

Northern Ireland and Guernsey

There aren’t any proposed assisted dying laws before the Northern Ireland Assembly or Guernsey States Assembly right now.

In Northern Ireland, a 2024 LucidTalk poll for My Death, My Decision found that 67% support a change in the law. It is hoped that legislation will follow passage in neighbouring jurisdictions. This may include the Republic of Ireland: also in 2024 a special Assisted Dying Committee of the Oireachtas recommended it be made legal. Humanists UK gave evidence to the Committee on behalf of its members in Northern Ireland.

A proposal was last considered in Guernsey in 2018 but was defeated. Most Guernsey adults support a change in the law, and with rising political support there are hopes that new legislation will be introduced soon.

What we’re doing

We are part of the Assisted Dying Coalition, alongside My Death, My Decision, Humanist Society Scotland, Friends at the End, and End of Life Choices Jersey. All our organisations have the same policy on assisted dying, and work collaboratively to see the law change.

We are backing the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill and urge you to write to members of the House of Lords to get them to do likewise.

We’re also backing the other laws proposed around the UK and Crown Dependencies.

In England and Wales, we have been a major voice shaping parliamentary, public, and media discussion of assisted dying. We:

• Supported Kim Leadbeater MP and her team to aid the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, ensuring workable safeguards that command cross‑party confidence.
• Mobilised humanist parliamentarians, whose speeches, amendments, and votes proved decisive at each legislative stage.
  • 43 members of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG) spoke during debates outside of the Committee Stage.
  • Of the 23 members of the Terminally Ill Adults Bill’s Commons Committee, five are members of the APPHG.
• Equipped MPs and peers with evidence‑based briefings and real‑time amendment trackers. Over 583 amendments were submitted and considered at Committee Stage and a further 121 at Report Stage – for each amendment, we explained what it would do in practice, whether we thought MPs should support or oppose the amendment and our rationale for that. These briefings came to over 40,000 words alone.
• Drove public understanding, commissioning the largest ever MRP poll on the issue and through repeatedly getting case studies in the media, generating 450+ media hits with a reach of 125 million.
• Encouraged thousands of members to write to their MPs, attend local events, and meet with their MP to discuss assisted dying.
• Organised and supported four rallies outside parliament, mobilising our supporters to show politicians that the people want the law to change.

Through the Assisted Dying Coalition, we support campaigning organisations in Scotland, Jersey, the Isle of Man, Wales and Northern Ireland to change the law on assisted dying.

Appendix: Past work on this issue

Humanists UK has supported the right to a compassionate assisted death for over 100 years.

Prior to the current legislative proposals, our work to empower people to have the choice and autonomy to be able to die with dignity included:

• The House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee published a report on assisted dying in 2024, after a year-long inquiry. We submitted written evidence, along with many people impacted by the current law against assisted dying.
• In 2019, we co-founded the UK’s first-ever national Assisted Dying Coalition, bringing together a cross-section of organisations, campaigners, and medical professionals to advocate for a change in the law to help those who are terminally ill or incurably suffering.
• We were the only organisation to intervene in support of Tony and Jane Nicklinson, Paul Lamb, and Martin’s landmark legal case, which prompted the Director of Public Prosecutions to change its guidelines on assisted dying in 2014. We supported our members Noel Conway, Omid T, Phil Newby, and Paul Lamb’s subsequent attempts to change the law, by providing witness statements from humanist philosophers Professor Simon Blackburn, Professor A C Grayling, and Professor John Harris in court hearings in 2017 and 2018. We also did likewise in the past with Sir Terry Pratchett.
• We’ve worked consistently over the years with MPs and peers to repeatedly raise the matter in Parliament and highlight the need for a compassionate change in the law, through the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group.
• We have repeatedly briefed the UK Parliament on assisted dying, for example urging decision-makers to support Rob Marris MP, Lord Falconer, and Baroness Meacher’s private members’ bills to allow a dignified death for those who are terminally ill.
• In 2018, we published research showing that there is significant support for assisted dying amongst people with motor neurone disease (MND), with a plurality wishing to consider it for themselves, were it made legal with strong safeguards.
• In 2019, our research revealed the pressing need for reform, revealing that more than one person a week now travels to Switzerland to end their life.
• We’ve also worked to reform the medical community’s stances on these issues, helping the British Medical Association, Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Nursing to move from hostile to neutral positions on the right to die.