‘Grey area’ found in government’s legal guidance on assisted dying
Experts from the University of Hertfordshire have produced the world’s first-ever studies examining the views of people considering ending their life abroad and their loved ones.
Last month a bill to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults in England and Wales was formally introduced in the House of Commons, and it triggered both positive and negatives reactions. The bill is due to undergo intense discussion over the coming weeks and months, but new research from the University of Hertfordshire has offered new insight.
The team who led the research, otherwise known as Dr Megan Knights, Dr Harry Dean and Dr Jennifer Heath, published the world’s first ever studies combining the in-depth views of both UK-based families who have been to Dignitas in Switzerland where a loved one has died, with the views of those actively considering taking the same path.
A number of problems were highlighted about the experience, but overall people claimed they will continue to use the service in Switzerland if the UK government decides to leave the current law unchanged – assisted suicide can be accompanied by a 14-year jail penalty.
The most recent statistics show that over 200 million people worldwide now live in jurisdictions that allow some form of assisted dying. Switzerland is the only country that allows foreign nationals to access these services and over 1500 British people are registered with Dignitas, with 33 going there in 2022 alone.
According to the University’s findings, one of the biggest problems with travelling to Switzerland is bringing back a loved one’s body as it automatically triggers a coroner’s involvement and a likely police investigation. As a result, families often have their relatives cremated abroad.
Against this backdrop, respondents told the researchers that healthcare professionals had shut down conversations because they were afraid of legal repercussions. One told his wife’s GP being implicated despite providing routine care.
Commenting on their findings, Dr Dean and Dr Knight said: ‘It is clear from the detailed interviews we conducted that more needs to be done so that people involved in going abroad for an assisted death can access support.
‘Experiences with healthcare professionals leave individuals feeling as if they have not fully explored their considerations around assisted dying before they needed to decide and plan. This has negatively impacted their mental state.’
‘Our findings show we need a clearer legal framework around assisted dying so that individuals, their families and healthcare professionals can have a better understanding of what they can discuss and access the information they need,’ the researchers added. ‘Crown Prosecution Service guidance has not prevented this situation occurring suggesting the need for further clarification.’
The full research titled Accessing an assisted death from the UK: Navigating the legal ‘grey’ area, can be accessed in the online journal Death Studies.
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