Assisted suicide - should the law be changed?

Nope, the law should not be changed - the care system should be improved so that life doesn't get to be so unbearable that death is the only option. How, now that's the difficulty. I am talking ideal world of course, but killing people in its absence is not the way.

My Swiss friend is a member of Exit and says I can use her address in Switzerland to join. Unfortuantely, the thing I fear most is dementia, rather than physical illness, and that is still not covered, as you have to be mentally capable of giving your consent at the time you want to die. It is not possible to leave a 'living will' saying that you want to die when you have lost your capacity to give informed consent.
I think medical professionals have always 'helped' the terminally ill by increasing their pain relief to the point where it was sure to be fatal. The Shipman case made people very wary of doctor-assisted deaths, and certainly would have deterred many doctors.
The one thing I feel most strongly about is that this should not be decided on the basis of the religious beliefs of any one group.

Be careful what you wish for. Every case is individual I know and opinions change because circumstances alter cases. I looked up a definition of "End of life care". I believe it used to be called "Care for the Dying" or "Palliative care", a much narrower and more easily understood concept. I discovered that it is now considered to include everyone who has a condition that will lead to their death. This would include, for instance, anyone being treated for a heart condition it seems. Such blurring of meaning leaves the population trying to discuss a subject that they are not allowed to understand while the meaning of what they are hearing keeps changing according to the understanding of the speaker. The idea that a funeral is now a happy occasion for celebrating a life I find rather hard to swallow.

It is claimed that there are just too many older people draining the finances of the country; they are not productive; they cost too much in care and benefits; they are bed blockers and housing blockers. The facts of how much the older people are saving the country in unpaid care and voluntary work is in the main ignored. The profit made by companies providing for the needs of the elderly and disabled in housing, care and mobility aids is ignored. The fact that less and less is being spent per head on elderly people is being ignored. This is just the few things that I am aware of. We are never allowed the full information but are being asked to make a decision anyway. This system used to be called brainwashing.

Open and mature discussion of asssisted suicides is to be welcomed and I for one, would like to feel that I would have a choice about whether to end my life or not if circumstances were such that I was considering this option. However, I can see that for many doctors and nurses this might prove to be an intervention that was impossible for them to carry out.

At the end of my mother's life (2 years ago) she accused me of not allowing her to die and I was informed that she could refuse treatment. However, she did not know this and I felt I was being given the choice of telling her.

I could not tell her because after a very difficult six and a half years I could not be sure whether I would have been telling her for her sake or mine.

She died some days later 89 years of age.

I, wholeheartedly believe that anyone who wants to end their life, should be able to do so, with help from their GP. There should be counselling first and time to think and reconsider. But I want the right to end my life painlessly, when I want to. If it became legal, it would allow me to prepare properly and communicate openly with my family about my wishes.

From what I have heard - where it is legal in other Countries the safeguards to protect the vulnerable are not satisfactory.
I don't think anyone can decide for another or judge another so perhaps it could be legalised providing each case was heard individually by a panel of experts and could be processed quickly where necessary.

I certainly support more openness about this and an acceptance that assisted suicide is, in short, acceptable where proper safeguards are in place to prevent abuse.