“Citizens’ jury in England backs assisted dying for terminally ill”.
Thirty jurors were selected from 7,000 invitations sent to randomly selected households across England. They met between April and June, spending a total of about 24 hours exploring and deliberating on the issues. Two of the jurors were unable to take part in the final session due to illness.
The jury backed assisted dying for people who have a terminal condition and have the capacity to make their own decision. They supported both assisted suicide, where healthcare professionals would prescribe lethal drugs to be taken by eligible patients, and voluntary euthanasia, where a healthcare professional would administer lethal drugs.
The top three reasons given for supporting a change in the law were to stop pain, having the option to end your own life and knowing you could die with dignity.
It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with Labour MP Jake Richards considering bringing forward a bill to the House of Commons soon.
