The Society for Old Age Rational Suicide was established in Brighton and Hove, by several right-to-die activists and humanists, in 2009. Presently, the main objective of SOARS is to begin a campaign to get the law eventually changed in the UK so that very elderly, mentally competent individuals, who are suffering unbearably from various health problems (although none of them is “terminal”) are allowed to receive a doctor’s assistance to die, if this is their persistent choice. Surely the decision to decide, at an advanced age, that enough is enough and, avoiding further suffering, to have a dignified death is the ultimate human right for a very elderly person. Although there is much public support for this to become lawful in the UK, it is unlikely that Parliament (either at Westminster or in Edinburgh) will change the law, to help those who are terminally ill, for at least five to ten years.
In February 2010 the NVVE, Right-to-Die Netherlands, supported by other social organizations, started the campaign Completed Life. Interrupting this societal debate again shouldn’t be allowed. The NVVE is of the opinion that the elderly should be allowed to make a well thought-through choice at the end of their lives and that such a choice will be entirely up to them. Of course, people are not forced to make use of assisted suicide, but they should be at liberty to resort to such, if they wish to. When human suffering can be avoided, the NVVE is of the opinion that access to assistance shouldn’t be withheld. Obviously, under all circumstances all forms of due-care should be practiced.