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Desmond Tutu has said he would like the option of ending his life through assisted dying as he called on politicians, lawmakers and religious leaders to take action on the issue.

In an article published on his 85th birthday on Friday, and following several spells in hospital this year for recurring infections, the emeritus archbishop of Cape Town and anti-apartheid activist reiterated his support for assisted dying, first disclosed in the Guardian in 2014.

"With my life closer to its end than its beginning, I wish to help give people dignity in dying," he wrote in the Washington Post.

"Just as I have argued firmly for compassion and fairness in life, I believe that terminally ill people should be treated with the same compassion and fairness when it comes to their deaths," he added.

"Dying people should have the right to choose how and when they leave Mother Earth. I believe that, alongside the wonderful palliative care that exists, their choices should include a dignified assisted death."

Tutu had changed his mind over assisted suicide two years ago after a lifelong opposition but had remained ambiguous about whether he personally would choose such a death.

He said: "Today, I myself am even closer to the departures hall than arrivals, so to speak, and my thoughts turn to how I would like to be treated when the time comes. Now more than ever, I feel compelled to lend my voice to this cause."

He believed in the sanctity of life but also that terminally ill people should not be forced to endure terrible pain and suffering, he wrote. Instead they should have control over the manner and timing of their death.

He added: "I have prepared for my death and have made it clear that I do not wish to be kept alive at all costs. I hope I am treated with compassion and allowed to pass on to the next phase of life's journey in the manner of my choice."

Tutu pointed to laws in California and Canada that permit assisted dying for terminally ill people. But "there are still many thousands of dying people across the world who are denied their right to die with dignity".

He said: "For those suffering unbearably and coming to the end of their lives, merely knowing that an assisted death is open to them can provide immeasurable comfort."

He concluded: "In refusing dying people the right to die with dignity, we fail to demonstrate the compassion that lies at the heart of Christian values. I pray that politicians, lawmakers and religious leaders have the courage to support the choices terminally ill citizens make in departing Mother Earth. The time to act is now."

Tutu, who won the Nobel peace prize in 1984, has been admitted to hospital several times, most recently in September, for recurring infections as a result of surgery for prostate cancer.

Assisted dying is legal in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Albania, Colombia and Japan as well as Canada. Several US states have enacted measures on assisted dying, including Washington, California, Oregon, Vermont and New Mexico.

I have prepared for my death and have made it clear that I do not wish to be kept alive at all costs

Desmond Tutu

In September last year, the UK parliament rejected a bill to allow assisted dying for the terminally ill, with 330 MPs voting against it and 118 backing the measure, despite an opinion poll showing it was supported by 82% of the public. The same poll suggested that 44% of people would break the law to help a loved one to die, risking a jail sentence of up to 14 years.

Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, who sits in the House of Lords, urged MPs to reject the bill along with other faith leaders.

Former archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has argued for assisted dying to be lawful, saying such a move would be "profoundly Christian and moral". Tutu wrote: "His initiative has my blessing and support - as do similar initiatives in my home country, South Africa, throughout the United States and across the globe."

Tutu has also been a vocal advocate for women's rights, a staunch opponent of homophobia, a campaigner on poverty, for people with HIV/Aids and on climate change. He headed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in post-apartheid South Africa. Nelson Mandela described him as the "voice of the voiceless".

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Desmond Tutu: I want right to end my life through assisted dying

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Desmond Tutu has said he would like the option of ending his life through assisted dying as he called on politicians, lawmakers and religious leaders to take action on the issue.

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“The difference is your health or disability status. Then suddenly suicide is a rational decision,” Diane Coleman, president and CEO of Not Dead Yet-The Daily Beast

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“Not everyone is getting what they should from the system. They didn’t get pain relief needed or didn’t get the home care they needed. You can see why the only solution seems like assisted suicide.” -Daily Beast

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"The resistance to the legalization of physician-assisted death often seems to originate from religious zeal that, cruelly, would have people suffer rather than violate a divine edict not to kill." thedailybeast.com

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"...pain is near the bottom of the reasons that are given. Being a burden to others is at the top of the list." - Baroness Tani Grey-Thmpson

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Once someone has reached a point where they believe that their life is more suffering than happiness then they should have the option to stop their suffering

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'Terminal illnesses do not just affect the body – the indignity caused by the deterioration of one’s normal body functions can have painful psychological consequences' - BBC iWonder

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The resistance to the legalization of physician-assisted death often seems to originate from religious zeal that, cruelly, would have people suffer rather than violate a divine edict not to kill. Assisted death’s supporters, then, are the forces of compassion, dignity, rationality, and secularity.

-The Daily Beast

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"In Belgium, the parliament last year passed a bill to extend euthanasia to children, with no age limit, if the child is terminally ill."- The Spectator

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"if I knew that I could die at any time I wanted, then suddenly every day would be as precious as a million pounds. If I knew that I could die, I would live. My life, my death, my choice."
- Terry Pratchett

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“Her death was a clear case of ‘rational suicide’ and her decision to die at her own time and in her own place should have been respected. As it is the authorities did everything they could to make her last days on this earth a misery.” - The Guardian

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“Many folks may have experienced death of a loved one where palliative care and support received was insufficient,” said Coleman. “Not everyone is getting what they should from the system. They didn’t get pain relief needed or didn’t get the home care they needed. You can see why the only solution seems like assisted suicide.” - The Daily Beast

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"the lack of mandatory mental health evaluations for patients seeking life-ending drugs" Huffington Post

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The 2015 Populus poll found that 79% of religious people support the Assisted Dying Bill (Diginityindying.org.uk)

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yanis                                "The hardest question is whether doctor-assisted dying should be available for those in mental anguish. No one wants to make suicide easier for the depressed: many will recover and enjoy life again." ECONOMIST

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yanis                                "The hardest question is whether doctor-assisted dying should be available for those in mental anguish. No one wants to make suicide easier for the depressed: many will recover and enjoy life again." ECONOMIST

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Liz Kendall a labour leadership candidate backed up 'assisted dying' by saying ‘I believe in giving people as much power and control over what happens to them as possible.’

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"Disability groups believe that much of what motivates people to access physician-assisted death is not pain, but fear of disability." thedailybeast.com

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Lydia    'because if I knew that I could die at any time I wanted, then suddenly every day would be as ­precious as a million pounds. If I knew that I could die, I would live. My life, my death, my choice.'

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Lydia    'because if I knew that I could die at any time I wanted, then suddenly every day would be as ­precious as a million pounds. If I knew that I could die, I would live. My life, my death, my choice.'

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-Terry Pratchett, The guardian

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'Doctors have a key role in preventing suicides: it is perverse to ask them to do an about-turn and give some of their patients the medical equivalent of a loaded gun.'-Baroness Meacher

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“I have prepared for my death and have made it clear that I do not wish to be kept alive at all costs. I hope I am treated with compassion and allowed to pass on to the next phase of life’s journey in the manner of my choice.”
- Desmond Tutu

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“Dying people should have the right to choose how and when they leave Mother Earth. I believe that, alongside the wonderful palliative care that exists, their choices should include a dignified assisted death.”-Desmond Tutu (The Guardian)

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"torn over the lack of patient safeguards"
“It’s not a religious thing for me. It’s how this is going to be implemented in the real world.”
- The Huffington Post

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Everyone should have the right to choose what happens to their body.

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'Knowing there is a choice allows people to continue to live.'- Baroness Hayman, who served as a member of the Select Committee (on Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill)

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"It seems that those wishing to assist a friend or relative to die would have to meet quite a large number of criteria in order to escape the chance of prosecution for murder."
Terry Pratchett

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"I would live my life as ever to the full and die, before the disease mounted its last attack, in my own home, in a chair on the lawn, with a brandy in my hand to wash down whatever modern version of the "Brompton cocktail" some helpful medic could supply. And with Thomas Tallis on my iPod, I would shake hands with Death." - Terry Pratchett

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'Competent adults are allowed to make other momentous, irrevocable choices: to undergo a sex change or to have an abortion. People deserve the same control over their own death.' - The Economist

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' Instead of dying in intensive care under bright lights... people should be able to end their lives when they are ready, surrounded by those they love.' The Economist

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Should suicide prevention be the aim of medical professionals?
Should the right to die be extended to those with disabilities - or does that reduce the value of their lives?
Or does having the right to die confer dignity on those who have already suffered hugely?