Assisted Dying

[Batch]

I'm not trying to debate this as such, your view is your view and respect that.

Just checking that we all know that the assisted dying proposal is. It says that anyone who wants to end their life must::

- be over 18 and live in England and Wales, and have been registered with a GP for at least 12 months

- have the mental capacity to make the choice and be deemed to have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish, free from coercion or pressure

- be expected to die within six months

- make two separate declarations, witnessed and signed, about their wish to die

- satisfy two independent doctors that they are eligible - with at least seven days between each assessment

I do very much get the argument that someone in the position may not be compos mentis (isn't this subjective) to make that decision, and may be pressured into it too.

[4D]

Some people go through hell, these are the people to consider.

[Posh Red]

So the actual bill has passed in parliament, with a much closer margin than on here.

[Nemo]

Really interesting the pattern of votes - basically every party split on it apart from the NI ones. Starmer and Rayner on opposite sides, so were Davey and Cooper, Farage and Tice, McDonnell and Corbyn. Fascinating to see how parliament operates without a whip system.

[horlock07]

Really interesting the pattern of votes - basically every party split on it apart from the NI ones. Starmer and Rayner on opposite sides, so were Davey and Cooper, Farage and Tice, McDonnell and Corbyn. Fascinating to see how parliament operates without a whip system.

Was also pleasing to note that our parliamentarians can act like grown ups, something that's been lacking in that place for many years.

[Matt71]

No. I think legalised killing can never be a good thing. From a personal point of view the more days I get to see my loved ones the better.

My wife is an end of life palletive care Nurse for a cancer hospice you would change your mind if you  had a chat with her believe me.

[Legends-Lounge]

My wife is an end of life palletive care Nurse for a cancer hospice you would change your mind if you  had a chat with her believe me.

This.

Interesting how your own personal opinion changes when you have to walk in someone else’s shoes.

[Nemo]

This.

Interesting how your own personal opinion changes when you have to walk in someone else’s shoes.

I listened to a lot of the speeches in parliament yesterday, and basically all of them were 'my own personal traumatic experience  of watching a loved one die tells me this is a good/bad idea'. And there's the rub - no two deaths are the same, same as two lives. There are some people for whom assisted dying isn't the right option, and sadly there are people who will feel pressured to choose it. There are rightly safeguards being put in to try and prevent this but you can never be foolproof. The sad fact is that you're balancing that against not forcing people to die in agonising pain or to end their lives painfully themselves/travel to Switzerland alone.

There are a few people who are against this in bad faith, but a lot of the opposition is people who have weighed up the balance of good and bad and come down on the other side to me. It's a genuinely difficult one.

[Steak supper]

As others have said, this is a personal thing . I have watched and cared for relatives who have died from cancer and other conditions. I am still not sure where I stand on this . Walking in my shoes (the phrase adopted earlier ) equally applies.