A Bill to legalise a form of assisted dying is currently being considered by the UK Parliament. This follows the introduction of a similar Bill in the Scottish Parliament in March 2024, and the approval of plans to proceed with the drafting of legislation to enable assisted dying in Jersey in May 2024, and on the Isle of Man in July 2024.
When the Bill was introduced into the UK Parliament, a statement issued by the Secretary of the Conference set out the background to the Methodist Church's position.
The potential legislation currently being considered raises a number of theological questions as well as questions of politics, justice, ethics, practicality and much more, on which different teams and committees within the Church, as well as partner organisations, have important perspectives to contribute.
The Methodist Conference in 2025 therefore directed the Secretary of the Conference to establish a task group to review the Conference’s position with regard to assisted dying, and to report to the Conference not later than 2028. Updates on this work will be shared on these pages in due course.
The links below give further insights into the debate around assisted dying.