Dignity in Dying: Hawaii legalises assisted dying - statement
Responding to the news that the Governor of Hawaii, David Ige, has approved a law that would allow assisted dying as an option for terminally ill citizens, Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying Sarah Wootton said:
“Hawaii will now become the eighth US jurisdiction to legalise assisted dying as an option for terminally ill, mentally competent people in their final months of life. By approving this Bill, Hawaiian lawmakers have clearly listened to the views of those they represent – the vast majority of whom support a change in the law – and they have also shown compassion and kindness to their terminally ill citizens. Dying Hawaiians will soon have the right to die on their own terms, if they wish to, rather than at the mercy of cruel illnesses.
“As ever more jurisdictions around the world take this important step towards more compassionate, personalised end-of-life care, the UK’s lack of progress is becoming more apparent and untenable. The brave efforts of politicians and campaigners in Guernsey, where an assisted dying Bill is due to be debated in the coming months, and of individuals like Noel Conway, a man from Shropshire with terminal motor neurone disease who is mounting a legal challenge to the ban on assisted dying, are to be applauded. We urge our elected representatives across the British Isles to act in the spirit of lawmakers around the world who have grasped the nettle on this important issue and done what is right by their citizens.”
