According to 28 randomly selected members of the public, assisted suicide or euthanasia (ASE) should be legalised in England for the terminally ill. Over eight weeks, a ‘citizens’ jury’ – set up by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics – listened to evidence presented by experts. In the end, the majority of jurors agreed that the law should be changed.
The ‘majority’ in this case was just 20 people. Seven jurors disagreed that ASE should be legalised and one remained unconvinced either way. Yet the tiny size of this sample didn’t stop pro-euthanasia group Dignity in Dying claiming that ‘the British people are demanding an assisted-dying law’. As Sarah Wootton, Dignity in Dying’s chief executive, put it, ‘it is inarguable that the public wants this reform to happen’.
