Assisted dying should be LEGALISED in Britain

A 51-year-old terminal cancer patient has made a heartbreaking plea urging the British Government to legalise assisted dying.

Sarah Jessiman, from Rugby, is battling breast cancer and said she is ‘terrified’ of the sort of death she may have to face.

Backing calls by medical experts for a change in the law for euthanasia, she said: ‘I don’t want to go to Switzerland [to the Dignitas clinic where assisted dying is permitted], and I don’t want to attempt suicide.

‘I would draw huge comfort from knowing that I could say “enough” when I can no longer endure my illness, so I can die at home, supported by the people I love most.’

Her desperate plea is featured today in the British Medical Journal, which has urged for the law on assisted dying to change. It currently carries a maximum jail sentence of 14 years in Britain.

Writing in the prestigious journal, three leading names in their medical fields backed the calls to stop assisted dying being outlawed.

In a series of articles, the British Medical Association, the doctors’ union, was urged to end its controversial opposition to euthanasia.

The British Medical Journal has today urged parliament to consider a debate on allowing terminally ill patients to end their lives, if they wish

Assisted dying is currently legal in several European countries, such as Switzerland – home of the Dignitas clinic.

It is also legal in some US states, including Oregon, Montana, Washington, Vermont, California, Colorado and Washington DC.

But it remains outlawed in Britain, despite polls showing up to 80 per cent of the public support a change in the policy.

Ms Jessiman, diagnosed with breast cancer at 45, gave a patient commentary to the BMJ urging the government to rethink the law.

Writing in the prestigious journal, she said: ‘My name is Sarah Jessiman, and I’m a positive person doing my best to live well with terminal cancer at 51 years of age. 

‘I want to explain why I think doctors should support the campaign to legalise assisted dying in the UK. Perhaps this seems odd, coming from someone prepared to endure all kinds of arduous treatments to stay alive.’

‘My reasons for wanting the choice of an assisted death are simple and shared by many patients in similar situations. I’m terrified of the sort of death I may have to face.’ 

She added: ‘I’m terrified of the sort of death I may have to face… Why can’t I die as I live – in an open and honest way?

‘Every day doctors support terminally ill people like me and do their best to keep us going and as free from pain as possible. 

‘However, they cannot yet offer the last and, to me, ultimate act of compassion—that is, to enable us to end our lives when a truly awful death is close. 

‘Why should I have to endure a death that will cause people to say to my husband, Eddie, and my Dad, “At least Sarah’s no longer suffering?” I’d rather they said, “Sarah died at just the right time.”’

‘Please help me and the many patients like me by easing our worry about death.

‘I’m not depressed and am well supported by my GP, oncologist, specialist nurse, Macmillan nurse, and local hospice as well as by my husband, family, and friends.

WHAT IS DIGNITAS?

Assisted dying remains outlawed in Britain, despite polls showing up to 80 per cent of the public support a change in the policy.

It is considered a criminal offence and currently carries a maximum jail sentence of 14 years in Britain. 

Assisted dying is currently legal in several European countries, such as Switzerland – home of Dignitas, and some states in America.

The non-profit society was founded in 1998 in the landlocked nation, situated next to France, Germany and Italy.

Since the inception of Dignitas, it has reportedly helped more than 2,000 people end their lives. They often have severe physical or mental illnesses.

Those wanting to end their lives must not be motivated by selfishness, have to be cleared by an independent doctor and prove they are of sound judgement.

‘I’m definitely not someone alone struggling with a terminal illness but still I feel a great need to help the campaign for Dignity in Dying. I hope you will too.’

Ms Jessiman was told her cancer became terminal when she turned 49 – despite having been given an ‘all clear’ by doctors nine months into her grueling treatment.

Just 15 per cent of patients with advanced breast cancer, considered stage four, are expected to survive for five years after their diagnosis.  

She said: ‘Preparations to celebrate my 50th birthday, and to thank all the people who had supported me so well, were rudely interrupted with the news that hideous back pain was a tumour in my spine. 

‘Cancer was the uninvited guest who was not going to leave. It didn’t prevent us from having a jolly good party, though. 

‘My life is so much smaller now but still very precious. The little things like walking my dog, meeting friends for tea, and planning travels mean so much, but I do drag around the weight of this terminal illness, day and night. 

‘My load would be so much lighter if I knew assisted dying was a choice for me when the illness dictates.   

‘Please help me and the many patients like me by easing our worry about death. I’m not depressed and am well supported by my GP, oncologist, specialist nurse, Macmillan nurse, and local hospice as well as by my husband, family, and friends. 

‘I’m definitely not someone alone struggling with a terminal illness but still I feel a great need to help the campaign for Dignity in Dying. I hope you will too.’ 

Dr Fiona Godlee, editor-in-chief of the journal, led the calls for change. She said: ‘The BMJ supports the legalisation of assisted dying.

‘The great majority of the British public are in favour and there is now good evidence that it works well in other parts of the world, as a continuation of care for patients who request it and are in sound mind.

‘We believe this should be a decision for Society and Parliament, and that medical organisations should adopt at least a neutral position to allow an open and informed public debate.’

A poll of 5,000 people in Britain three years ago revealed 82 per cent were in favour of legalising assisted dying.

It came just a year after MPs overwhelmingly rejected a change in the law, after a bill was put forward in parliament by Rob Marris, a Labour MP.

They voted 330 to 118 against changing the controversial law. The idea was floated by Lord Falconer a year before in the House of Lords. 

WHAT DO THE EXPERTS THINK ABOUT LEGALISING ASSISTED SUICIDE IN BRITAIN? 

Assisted dying is currently legal in several European countries, such as Switzerland – home of Dignitas, and some states in America. 

But it remains outlawed in Britain, despite polls showing up to 80 per cent of the public support a change in the policy.

It currently carries a maximum jail sentence of 14 years.

The BMJ urged for the laws on euthanasia to be reconsidered in an editorial published in February. 

Writing in the BMJ, consultant radiologist Dr Jacky Davis, a board member of Dignity in Dying, said the BMA needs to end its opposition to assisted dying.

Dr Davis, who is a member of the BMA council, said the disconnect between BMA policy and the views of doctors and patients ‘undermines its credibility’.

She added: ‘Its stance of outright opposition means that constructive engagement is impossible.

‘Doctors who support legal reform, now in the majority according to the latest poll, are left without a voice. Assisted dying does not represent a leap into a dangerous unknown.

‘Other jurisdictions have proved that it is possible to change the law, and doctors have shown that such laws can work hand in hand with excellent palliative care.’

Professor Bobbie Farsides, a clinical and biomedical ethics expert based at Sussex University, waded into the debate and urged the BMA to rethink its stance.

She said patients are ‘more aware than ever of what is, and is not, possible for them as they approach the end of their lives’.

Writing in the journal, she said she would ‘urge’ the BMA to rethink their stance on assisted dying in Britain, in the best interests of patients.   

Sir Terence English, a retired cardiac surgeon who performed Britain’s first ever successful heart transplant, also backed calls for a change in the law. 

He said: ‘Apart from the issue of sanctity of life, I find that the debate often turns to an argument between doctors who favour patient choice and doctors who claim to place a higher value on patient safety.

‘But in my view the safeguards contained in the Falconer bill provided both safety for the majority and an option for that relatively small number of people who would wish for this degree of control over their final days.’ 



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