Friend,
We’ve recently received the latest annual figures from Dignitas - the Swiss assisted dying organisation. They’re eye-opening, and I want to share them with you:
- There are now 1,528 British members of Dignitas who have signed up to use the organisation’s services - an all-time high.
- 33 Brits had an assisted death at Dignitas in 2022 - that’s a 44% increase from 2021, and the highest number since the pandemic.
These figures tell us a simple truth, one that Parliament needs to face: the blanket ban on assisted dying fails dying people. It means that some terminally ill people in Britain are forced to leave their loved ones, and travel hundreds of miles away from home, to end their lives on their own terms.
What’s more, to be able to access assisted dying overseas, people need to pay on average £10,000. For the vast majority of people facing terminal illness, this fee is simply out of reach. Many people feel forced to endure prolonged suffering before they die, or make the heartbreaking decision to end their own lives in this country.
Friend, this simply can’t go on. A dignified death should be a human right. Nobody facing terminal illness should be forced to suffer against their wishes.
Will you become a Dignity in Dying member and help us pressure our Parliament to listen to the numbers, and give terminally ill people choice at the end of their lives?
Here’s something else our Parliament needs to hear: it is possible to have a safe and compassionate assisted dying law. From 10 US states to Australia and New Zealand, governments around the world have found ways to give choice to their citizens. There’s no excuse - terminally ill people in Britain should be getting a choice too.
Right now, dying people in our country are contemplating ending their own lives because they can no longer bear the daily agony. This is the consequence of our broken system. It’s time to demand change.
Friend, it’ll take all of us to pile on the pressure and get the Government to act.
Will you become a Dignity in Dying member and power the campaign to change the law, so nobody has to go all the way to Switzerland to have control at the end of their life?
Thanks for being with us, Friend. It’ll take a lot of hard work to win our campaign for an assisted dying law, but I know that in future, everybody facing terminal illness in Britain will have the right to have a peaceful death in their own home.
Lloyd Riley
Director of Policy & Research
