Sarah Wootton - Last Rights: The Case for Assisted Dying (Provocations)

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In this deeply troubling time, we are united in working to protect our loved ones, our neighbours, our friends and ourselves. And, where required, to reduce suffering, pain and fear. This little book has the same objective and I highly recommend it. I have been a supporter of Dignity in Dying for a good few years. Its policies are ones of compassion, safety and care. Please read Last Rights.

P atrick S tewart

There exists physical pain beyond the reach of morphine. Terminally ill patients of sound mind but suffering unbearable agony should be empowered to choose, legally and peacefully, the moment of their death. The religious convictions or paternalistic instincts of doctors are irrelevant. So argues this wise and beautifully poised book. It makes its powerful case for assisted dying with compassion, decency and moral depth.

I an M c E wan

If you think you know what you think about assisted dying, pause for a moment. Read this urgent, cogent, necessary book and then think again.

J ulian B arnes

Last Rights provides the blueprint for a new approach to death and dying, and all should read it. Not to allow citizens to choose how and when they die seems to me criminal. The current law is confusing, heartless and causes unnecessary pain, suffering and expense. We need the public to make their views known, and we need the government to act.

P rue L eith

ii Last Rights is a humane, sensible argument for changing the law on assisted dying, a moral issue whose time has come. All parliamentarians should consider the points raised in this book and question why we have abrogated our responsibility to change the law for so long.

T he R ight H onourable B aroness B etty B oothroyd OM

If we care about the way we live we should also care about the way we die, yet we run away from the issue. We need to talk about it, and to decide. This book harnesses both passion and insight to pursue a very important cause.

M ichael D obbs, author of H ouse of C ards

This deeply humane book presents a brilliant, impassioned, carefully argued and indeed unanswerable case for the long-overdue legalisation of assisted dying. Above all, it exposes the cruelty and irrationality of the present law. Last Rights should be read by legislators, by physicians and by those whom this issue will affect that is to say all of us.

R ay T allis, philosopher and emeritus professor of geriatric medicine

Modern medicine makes it possible to live longer lives, but we will all die. We want death to be pain-free and calm, with our loved ones at our side, but the reality for some dying people is one of prolonged suffering and distress. Last Rights demonstrates that we can do much better for dying people. How? We must change the law on assisted dying and change our culture so that dying people have real power to decide on the death they want.

J oan B akewell

iii The moral (and, for me, the Christian) case for a change in the law is irrefutable. Covid-19 has forced us all to rethink our certainties about death and dying. How can a country that cares so deeply for victims of this virus be so indifferent to those who, at the end of life, suffer indignity and intractable pain? Sarah Wootton and Lloyd Riley make a timely and powerful case for assisted dying.

L ord C arey of C lifton , A rchbishop of C anterbury 19912002

We pride ourselves on our freedom to control our own lives. Yet we are not allowed to control our departure when our suffering is unbearable. There must be a proper inquiry into this ultimate denial of basic human rights. This book makes a powerful case for it.

J ohn H umphrys

The right to die on our own terms is the last frontier in a long battle to take control of our own beings, our bodies, our life and death. As we continue to grapple with a pandemic that has brought our own mortality centre stage, Last Rights makes an urgent, thoughtful case for why now is the time for the victory of compassion and kindness over the cowardice and dogma that prop up the status quo.

P olly T oynbee

Last Rights is a much-needed contribution to the conversation that we must all start to have about dying. In a society that talks so much about human rights, so many forget that one of the most fundamental human rights must surely be an individuals right to choose when and how they die.

J ulia H artley -B rewer

iv I cannot think of a better time to publish this vitally important book, which makes a compelling case for changing the outdated, harsh laws that prevent us from having any choice as to how we die, and any hope of a compassionate death.

D ame C armen C allil, publisher and writer

Last Rights is a powerful reminder that choice at the end of life is only accessible to those with the money to travel to Switzerland or the means to take matters into their own hands. Fifty years ago, society recognised that forcing women to endure the trauma of a backstreet abortion was unacceptable; the time has now come for us to show the same compassion to dying people.

D iana M elly , author and campaigner

Supporters of assisted dying come from all walks of life but are united in deprecating the cruelty and suffering arising from the current law and united in the belief that the autonomy of dying people is a value worth fighting for. This book provides both a serious challenge to the establishment that has resisted law change to date and a rallying call to the compassionate majority.

R abbi D anny R ich, C hief E xecutive, L iberal J udaism 200420

I am a disability rights advocate. I am also a religious person. Because of these commitments, not despite them, I support the option of assisted dying as a choice for those who are terminally ill. You are free to ignore me, but I do not think you are free to ignore this book.

T om S hakespeare FBA, P rofessor of D isability R esearch, L ondon S chool of H ygiene and T ropical M edicine

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You have enemies? Good. That means youve stood up for something, sometime in your life.

winston churchill

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