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DignitySA approached the North Gauteng High Court this week to initiate a historic legal process aimed at decriminalising and legalising assisted dying. This constitutional challenge represents the culmination of 15 years of advocacy for the right of South Africans to choose a dignified end when facing intractable and unbearable suffering.

The application seeks to declare the current common-law prohibition of assisted dying unconstitutional and invalid. 

DignitySA defines "assisted dying" as a medically assisted death that is either self-administered or doctor-administered, strictly governed by eligibility criteria and robust safeguards. The case is built on the fundamental rights enshrined in the South African Constitution, specifically the rights to human dignity, bodily autonomy, life and freedom.

"Our Constitution looks compassionately upon those who face terrible deaths while our current legal tradition fails to protect their dignity," says Willem Landman, chairperson, and co-founder of DignitySA. 

"We are asking the court to recognise that a person’s human dignity is severely diminished when they lose control over the manner of their dying".

DignitySA seeks to ensure that any person meeting strict criteria - including being mentally competent, suffering from an irremediable condition, and making a voluntary request - can access medical assistance in dying.

The legal strategy involves requesting the High Court to:

●      Declare the blanket common-law prohibition of medically assisted dying unconstitutional and invalid.

●      Direct Parliament to remedy this constitutional defect by enacting appropriate legislation within 24 months.

●      To suspend the declaration of invalidity for 24 months to allow Parliament to implement an appropriate assisted-dying regime.

DignitySA emphasises that assisted dying is a necessary component of the palliative care continuum. 

"While we champion the expansion of high-quality palliative care, it cannot always mitigate the all-consuming suffering some patients endure," DignitySA’s spokesperson Vuya Ilengou explains.

This challenge follows years of legal preparation and is bolstered by the support of prominent medical professionals who argue that assisted dying, responsibly practised, conforms to the core principles of medical ethics. 

DignitySA is pursuing this litigation in the public interest, seeking to secure "the last right" for all South Africans and calling on all who support this to sign their petition at amandla.mobi.

Issued by DignitySA