Assisted Dying. For or against?

Its a yes from me too.
Medical staff should be allowed to opt out if they wish as i believe they can in the case of abortion.
Switzerland is an option but that demands a level of fitness to travel meaning difficult decisions have to be made earlier than people may wish. A sad and lonely end in an anonymous flat on an industrial estate in a foreign country.
How much better to be in a familiar place at a time you choose with friends or family around you.
I know which i prefer, and lovely though Switzerland is for a holiday it isn't how I would want my life to end.

My immediate gut reaction is definitely yes. I'm not sure why I have a tiny niggle about it though.
But I do know what I would want for myself, if I was in great pain and there was no hope, then definitely yes.

Yes from me.

Unless the person only has a very short time to live anyway, and they are in pain I would not trust anyone to make that decision. Horror stories about organ ‘donations’ come to mind, plus relatives who might benefit from a will etc etc. Why do I keep thinking of that ghastly doctor in the north of England ?

ABSOLUTELY YES!!

Yes I am in favour. My dear late husband suffered from motor neurone disease and it was hell. A few weeks before he passed away peacefully (and most people with this terrible disease do die peacefully) he said (through his machine as he could no longer speak) that he'd had enough. Luckily mother nature took him away gently - I held him while he died.
To janeainsworth if he'd asked me to end his life I like to think I would have been brave enough to do so, though it would have been with very heavy heart. I loved him dearly and didn't want him to suffer any longer.

Apart from my religious beliefs, which are hugely important, I think this comes with too many risks. How soon would it move from informed consent by the patient to consent by next of kin?

Then you might have exhausted carers coming under pressure to agree, unscrupulous relatives giving consent etc

I also think there's a huge difference between deliberately administering a drug to end someone's life, and using drugs and technology to prolong a life where it leaves a person helpless, in pain and with no quality of life.

Definitely yes from me

We’ve both done similar with an add-on to our Health and Welfare Powers of Attorney, Grannywannynanny. Circumstances in which we specifically do not want any life-saving or life-prolonging treatment.

I do not believe hospitals in UK hasten people’s demise by overdosing. It is one thing aiming to alleviate suffering by giving adequate pain relief, but quite another to overdose intentionally.

This may have happened in the distant past but in my experience in the community, GPs were reluctant to give large doses of opioids, especially since Shipman.

I am really not sure.

It’s a yes from me but would have to be very clear with checks and everything. Since you mentioned power of attorney Witzend I am doing ours now on the gov.uk website do you have to pay separately for the health one and the financial one so it’s 160 each or can you it the two together?

A definite yes from me.

Isn't this interesting? We are obviously mostly in the age group where assisted dying is increasingly relevant and we are overwhelmingly in favour. Yet whenever the subject is raised in the press or the commons, a vocal minority seem to hijack it and it gets dropped.
I hope a concerted effort is made to pass legislation before my time comes.

Absolutely YES. Why on earth should I not have control of the time and place of my death in the same way that I have control of my living?
Obviously, regulations would be in place and as an increasing number of countries are now doing this, we have so much knowledge and experience of such controls.

Same sort of objectins were made origianly against pregnancy terminations, causing untold women to endure horrible botched terminations, often leading to a lifetime of pain or death.

I have little or no fear of death, but a great fear of dying. It seems to me that if any sort of proper poll was taken of the electorate it would be substantially in favour of this.

It seems to me that if any sort of proper poll was taken of the electorate it would be substantially in favour of this.

They would probably be in favour of the death penalty too Franbern.

And you can't equate the issues surrounding pregnancy termination with those surrounding deliberately ending someone's life.

If you believe, as I strongly do, that people in the UK should have the right to choose, please write to a Peer asap to express this and encourage them to attend and vote in favour.

From The Humanist Society:

In just three weeks, the House of Lords will debate legislation to end our country’s ban on assisted dying. If this bill commands enough support in the Lords it would be a historic victory – clearing the way for a lasting change in the law. We need your help to make this happen. Will you write to a peer today in support of Baroness Meacher’s assisted dying bill?

We’ve teamed up with Dignity in Dying to jointly call for a change in the law. Together we’ve prepared a template letter which we’d encourage you to put into your own words, as we know peers are more likely to respond to personalised, printed letters.

WRITE TO A PEER

Every week at least one Briton travels to Switzerland to end their life. Nine in ten members of the public want to see our prohibitive law reformed, and half of all doctors personally support this change. It is time for a change in the law.

By writing to a peer in support of this assisted dying bill we could help pave the way to making it a reality.

With thanks,

Definitely yes.

No. Not unless you can guarantee that the terminally ill, or just the old, won't feel pressed to ask for help to commit suicide.

While we are fit and well, we may feel that we wouldn't want to live with this or that condition, but that does not necessarily mean that we will not cling to life at all costs for as long as we can, once we realise that we are dying.

lovebeigecardigans1955 my Dad had MND too

Kali can you give us more information on where and to whom we should write regarding the bill you mention.

silverlining. you could write to any Peer you know of. I am a member of the Humanist Society- so I just clicked on their link, wrote my letter (modelled on the one they gave as muster, but personalised it) and then they selected a name for me. I did this 3 times, so my 3 letters went to the House of Lords today.

grandtanteJE65- to avail yourself to assisted dying- YOU have to apply, with very strict guidelines. You have to activate your request as and when you feel that you just cannot bear the pain and indignities anymore, and you can withdraw your request right up to the last second. NO-ONE else can make that request for you, and any pressure from outside would be perceived and cancel the whole thing.

The point is, people should have the CHOICE - and no-one would be coherced into anything.

grandetante- it has been shown that, especially in countries where assisted dying is not legal- people suffering from debilitating diseases like Motor Eurone Disease and others, have to make the choice to go to Switzerland or Belgium far too early, when they could have many weeks, perhaps months, of some quality of life with their loved ones - knowing that if they wait, they will no longer be physically or mentally able to travel there. This is truly tragic.

silverligning- or join Dignity in Dying, as they have teamed up for a common effort to try and get as much support in the Lords for this Bill.

Huge yes, including for minors