Anscombe Centre Publishes Resources on ‘Assisted Dying’ (Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide)

The Anscombe Centre has published a Guide on ‘Assisted Dying’ (euthanasia and assisted suicide) to inform those writing to MPs to oppose the proposed bill by Kim Leadbeater MP which would legalise assisted suicide for the terminally ill in England and Wales, as well as similar attempts in Scotland and Ireland.

This Guide aggregates the most salient realities of euthanasia and assisted suicide (EAS) and arguments against physician involvement in the suicide of their patients, and includes:

• A Guide on how to contact elected representatives in England, Ireland and Scotland;
• An article on the eight reasons not to support EAS;
• A Guide to the latest evidence concerning EAS internationally;
• Videos on subjects relating to EAS;
• Links to further resources.  

This Guide will be regularly updated over the next few weeks.

For decades, the Anscombe Centre has been at the forefront of research into the dangers of EAS. In 1982, under its previous name as the Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics, it published a report on Euthanasia and Clinical Practice which was contributed to by the analytic philosopher Professor G. E. M. Anscombe (1919-2001), after whom the Centre is now named. This was reproduced in 1994 alongside the Centre’s submission to the House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics (1993).

Since then, the Centre and its staff have produced important original research and aggregation of the best research concerning EAS. Its Director, Professor David Albert Jones, has written published articles looking into the relationship between legalisation of EAS and incidence of conventional (‘unassisted’) suicide. The Centre has also published a series of briefing papers on EAS since 2021, links to which are also included in the Guide.

This has put the Centre in an excellent position to create and contribute this Guide for public information, and we commend it especially to all who wish to be best prepared to write to their Member of Parliament to oppose the legalisation of practices that would endanger the lives and welfare of many of the most vulnerable members of society.

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Notes to Editors:

• Any part of the above can be quoted as coming from our Director, Professor David Albert Jones.
• If the issues discussed here affect you or someone close to you, you can call Samaritans on 116 123 (UK and ROI), visit their website or contact them on: jo@samaritans.org
• If you are reporting or writing about a case of death by suicide, whether assisted or non-assisted, please consult the Samaritans’ media guidelines on how to do so responsibly.
• For more information on the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, see our website: www.bioethics.org.uk
• For interviews or comment, contact: media@bioethics.org.uk