Good afternoon friend,



Two years ago today we launched our Compassion Is Not A Crime
[[link removed]] campaign. Amazing campaigners, Joy Munns, Zoe Marley and Ann Whaley told their
stories of assisting their loved ones to die on their own terms - and their
experiences of being criminalised for their acts of love.



After two years of campaigning in the face of extraordinary obstacles, we've
reached an important milestone on the journey to a more compassionate law. Today, the Crown Prosecution Service
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deaths as a result of ‘mercy killings’ and suicide pacts. It is only right to
differentiate acts of compassion from serious crimes and this is promising
progress on the road to law change.



The CPS is consulting on these changes in order to avoid putting someone through
a trial if their actions were clearly motivated by compassion to help a loved
one end their life, if this was their settled wish.



This is what your commitment and dedication to change can achieve. This is a clear indication that the ban on assisted dying does not work in
practice. Prosecutors know that these cases aren’t in the public interest and that they
need to change their approach. MPs must sit up and listen. Only you can make
sure they do. Please support our long-term goal of a more compassionate law and join D ignity in Dying as a member today.
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Yes, I'll join as a member →
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Today’s announcement is significant but it does not go far enough in providing dying people with the comfort and peace of mind that a safeguarded
assisted dying law would. I spoke to Joy Munns this week, whose mother Mavis was
put on trial for murder after helping her husband Dennis to take an overdose to
end his suffering from terminal bowel cancer. She said,



“What we really need is an assisted dying law for this country. This new
guidance might have saved our Mom from a trial, but she would still have been
backed into a corner, having to break the law when she’d never done so in her
life. Dad wanted a proper choice. On the night he died he was howling like a
wounded animal. The law put her in an impossible position. It must be properly reformed so that people like Dad can have the choice that
so many dying people want.”



2022 is going to be a big year for the campaign for Dignity in Dying and I’m so
grateful for every step you take with us along the way. If you can, take your
next step today, and join as a member.
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Yes, I'll join as a member →
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My sincere thanks for all you have done to get us here.



Together we will change the law.





Sarah Wootton

Chief Executive

Dignity in Dying



Our campaign is powered by members - people who support us with a small regular
gift so we can plan out the most effective actions to bring about an assisted
dying law. Sign up and join thousands of other Dignity in Dying members across the
country, from just £2 a month:

Become a member now
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