'Dignity in dying' discussed this Sunday in Maidenhead

One of the biggest voices in the Dignity in Dying movement, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, will hold a talk on the subject this week in the Royal Borough.

Following similar events around the country with national group, Dignity in Dying, of which he is chair, the Maidenhead man is bringing a discussion on the campaign to reform the law on assisted dying to his home town at an event at Grenfell Lodge on April 7.

The format for the morning includes a presentation and a question and answer session and all are welcome, whether people are ‘for, against, or undecided’.

Talking about his experiences as a Rabbi, of seeing people die in agonising pain, Rabbi Romain will present the group’s proposals and discuss the current climate on the issue.

Jonathan’s voice joins other high-profile people including Patrick Stewart, Prue Leith and Dame Esther Rantzen who recently collected 170,000 signatures on the subject to deliver to Parliament.

The timing of the Maidenhead event also coincides with Bills being proposed in Scotland, Jersey and the Isle of Man and Sir Keir Starmer pledging to vote on changing assisted dying laws if Labour wins the next general election.  

“There’s always in interest in it but it’s come really come to the top of the agenda, not just top of the social agenda but the political agenda as well,” said Rabbi Romain.

“Poll after poll for I’d say, ten years, have consistently shown a very high percentage of the population at large in favour of it.

“But I come to this as a religious person,” he added.

“There’s nothing holy about agony; there’s nothing sacred about suffering. I’ve seen too many people in hospice in pain and the crunch point was when I went six years ago and I saw this guy who was not in his bed but on his bed, on his knees, with his head between his knees as that was the only position that he could control the pain and I thought: ‘there has to be a better way than this’.”

The system that groups like Dignity in Dying and its former chair, Baroness Meacher, who presented a 2021/22 Bill on the subject, want is based on what currently exists around the world in places like Oregon, USA.

There, assisted dying is available to people over 18 years of age and only to people who are terminally ill.

People requesting assistance have to be mentally competent and able to make decisions independently. They are interviewed privately by two independent doctors and medical supervision is provided. In the UK, the system would be very strictly regulated.

“It’s not that England is forging ahead,” added Rabbi Romain.

“It’s actually that we’re the last in the line and it’s been in so many countries already. We’re quite behind really and it’s about time we caught up.”

He added: “We have so many options in life, where we live, what career we have, who we marry. Why can’t we choose perhaps one of the biggest ones which is when we die and where we die?

“So really it’s not about shortening life it’s more about shortening death.” 

Dignity in Dying event at Grenfell Lodge, Maidenhead, Sunday April 7 11:00AM to 12:30PM.

Places must be booked in advance via: reading.group@dignityindying.org.uk