May 17th, 2021
The Government would reportedly be pleased to see a parliamentary inquiry into the law banning assisted dying in England and Wales, it has been reported. The
Telegraph reports that the Government has no intention of instigating its own inquiry into assisted dying, but also quotes a senior source at the Ministry of Justice as saying words to the effect that Ministers would ‘be pleased to see either the Health select committee or Justice select committee gather evidence on the issue’.
The news follows shortly after a group of 56 MPs and peers wrote to the Justice Secretary, Robert Buckland MP, and the Chairs of the Health, Justice, and Human Rights select committee, about assisted dying. The letters were co-organised by Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision, and was backed by Humanists UK’s patron Dr Henry Marsh, who has advanced cancer. They urged one of them to launch an inquiry into assisted dying. If the Government was not minded to launch its own inquiry,
May 20th, 2021
Today marks one year since the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act came into force in England. The law means that all adults, with some exceptions, will be considered organ donors unless they choose to opt-out. As a result of this change 296 people donated 714 organs for transplantation which wouldn’t previously have been donated. This comprised nearly a third of all organ donors. The figures would have been higher still, had the Covid-19 pandemic not led to the cancellation or delay of many transplant operations.
Building on this success, a Bill to introduce opt-out donation on the Isle of Man has passed all stages in the Tynwald and is awaiting royal assent. It is hoped that it will come into force this summer. A similar law in Guernsey is also awaiting royal assent. Once both are in force, all parts of the United Kingdom and crown dependencies will operate an opt-out system – except for Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Department of Health is currently p
March 15th, 2021
Nigerian Humanist Association President Mubarak Bala.
In an intervention at the UN Human Rights Council, Humanists UK has called for the immediate release of the President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, Mubarak Bala, who has been detained and imprisoned in Nigeria’s Kano state without charge for over 300 days.
In an intervention made by during a debate with the President of the UN Human Rights Council, Humanists UK Chief Executive Andrew Copson stated,
‘First arrested in April 2014 and detained in a psychiatric ward on the grounds of his humanist beliefs, Bala since came to lead the Humanist Association of Nigeria and is an important figure for humanists and human rights defenders globally. He subsequently was arrested again in April 2020, accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammed via Facebook, contrary to the Cybercrimes Act of Nigeria. However, Bala is yet to be charged for this crime, and so remains detained indefinitely, which represents
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In an intervention at the UN Human Rights Council, Humanists UK called upon all member states to recognise the harms the Covid-19 pandemic has caused to non-religious people around the world and to renew their commitment to freedom of religion or belief by repealing restrictions that disproportionately target minority belief groups. In an intervention made […]