Citizens' Jury exploring public views on assisted dying
From April to June 2024 a Citizens’ Jury of 30 people from across England spent eight weeks deliberating on whether there should be a change in the law on assisted dying in England. Today the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, which commissioned the project, has published an interim report, presenting the Jury findings in their own words.
Hopkins Van Mil had the privilege of working with Jury members over a period of eight weeks, designing and facilitating the process and supporting the Jury to explore their views. A Citizens’ Jury is a robust process for deliberating on sensitive and important topics for which society doesn’t have a clear view as yet. Jury members were recruited using a civic lottery process called sortition. We worked with the Sortition Foundation on this, ensuring that the group broadly represent the English population. Jury members spent a significant amount of time learning about the topic from a balanced range of experts, evidence and information. They were carefully supported throughout to discuss this emotive and complex issue.
Jury members worked together to form recommendations for what a change to the law should look like. Together, they agreed if the law in England is changed:
People should have a terminal condition
People must have the capacity to make their own decision
Both physician assisted suicide (where healthcare professionals would prescribe lethal drugs to eligible patients to take themselves) and voluntary euthanasia (where a healthcare professional would administer lethal drugs to patients with the intention of ending their life) should be permitted
There was also a recognition from the Jury that the work they have done in sharing experiences and perspectives on assisted dying has been immensely valuable in understanding a range of viewpoints and considerations. Together they are calling for further open conversations across society. They also called for adequate funding for palliative care services.
At the end of the process, of the 28 Jury members who were able to participate in the final vote, 20 either strongly agreed or tended to agree the law should change to permit assisted dying in England. This compares to 7 who said they either strongly disagreed or tended to disagree with a law change. One person was undecided.
Our interim report provides a summary of Jury questions, results and key recommendations. The main project report, which will expand on the first report will give further detail on the Jury’s deliberations and how the Citizens’ Jury reached their conclusions alongside analysis of two nationally representative surveys. This will be published in early 2025. Find out more about the Nuffield Council on Bioethics’ work to explore public views on assisted dying in England here.
HVM would like to thank the Citizens’ Jury members who took their responsibility so seriously, and gave such thought and care to their deliberations, working sensitively and respectfully with each other to develop their recommendations.