Our beliefs

We support the right to choose. Every human being has a legitimate interest in his or her own death and manner of dying. We believe in offering the individual some choice in orchestrating that very personal time. For some, that choice will be to accept all possible treatments that modern technology can offer; for others, protecting quality of life before quantity may be the most important element, for others, it may be dying in a way that reflects their living, perhaps retaining some control over the dying process and maybe the time and circumstances of death and, even if it is never used, holding the key to the door marked "Exit."

Our record so far

In 1980, Exit (then the Voluntary Euthanasia Society of Scotland) broke away from the English society to become independent and so publish How to Die With Dignity - the first self-deliverance manual in the world. In 1993 we instigated the International Drugs Consensus Working Party and published Departing Drugs, which was the first scientifically researched volume on the subject. It has been reprinted in several languages around the globe. Both Departing Drugs and How to Die with Dignity were non-profit ventures and, in accordance with clear ethical guidelines, not available to the general public or minors. From 1992 to 1995 we sponsored research into living wills, clarifying the advantages and difficulties of such documents and producing a leading new format that anticipated the British Medical Association's Code of Practice. We published Collected Living Wills, the first international collection in the world. In 1995 we introduced the use of Values Histories in this country, breaking down the barriers to the use of living wills, and published Beyond Final Exit with essays on the latest research into self-deliverance. In 2007 we launch the new book, Five Last Acts, the most comprehensive how-to self-deliverance available, covering helium, compression, drugs, plastic bags and voluntary refusal of food and drink. Updated versions are available direct from Amazon.

Our aims

To make dying with dignity an option available to anyone, to protect patients and doctors alike in upholding the humanity of dying well, to seek legal reform, where necessary, and to introduce safeguards regarding voluntary euthanasia.