Legalising assisted dying: a complex, fraught and ‘necessary’ debate
The Assisted Dying Bill – which would allow doctors to assist in the deaths of terminally ill patients – has relevance for ‘millions’
Why on earth are we still debating the right to die with dignity? That’s what I thought as yet another bill on assisted dying went through the House of Lords last week, said Simon Jenkins in The Guardian.
Baroness Meacher’s bill – which would allow doctors to assist in the deaths of terminally ill patients – has relevance for “millions of Britons”. It has popular support, too: a recent YouGov poll showed that three- quarters of Britons favour a change to the law. Yet previous attempts by the Lords to reform it have all got stuck in the Commons. Why are MPs “too cowardly” to legislate for what most people want?
Partly, it’s because such laws raise real moral dilemmas, said Eleni Courea in The Times. However, direct experience of the issue can change people’s minds. Lord Field of Birkenhead once opposed such interventions, but last week, the former MP – who is himself terminally ill – backed this bill.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In a speech read out on his behalf, he explained he’d had a change of view, after seeing a friend’s suffering. The friend had wanted to die before the “full horror effects” of cancer set in, but had been “denied this opportunity”.
Yet this form of assisted dying doesn’t guarantee an easeful death, said David Rose in the Daily Mail. Meacher’s bill wouldn’t allow doctors to administer a large dose of morphine, so that patients can “slip away”, as they can in Belgium and the Netherlands.
What the bill proposes is a system more like that in some US states, where mentally competent patients with less than six months to live can be prescribed a lethal “cocktail of drugs” they take themselves. And in the US, this has, in some cases, proved harrowing: there are reports of patients suffering seizures, and “regurgitations”. In 2017, one man, Kurt Huschle, took eight hours to die.
I sympathise with those who’ve had to watch a loved one in agony, said Charles Moore in The Daily Telegraph, but the implications of this bill are too dangerous to ignore. People–particularly the elderly and vulnerable–“like to do what is expected of them”, and may feel they are being “selfish” by staying alive. Statistics from the US state of Oregon bear this out: more than 50% of those who chose “assisted suicide” cited being a “burden” on others as a reason.
That’s an important point, said Kenan Malik in The Observer – one that raises wider questions about how we regard the elderly and infirm in our society. The debate about assisted dying is necessary; it is also complex and fraught. Whatever side we land on, let us remember that “truth and moral decency lie on both sides”.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - April 27, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - natural gas, fundraising with Ted Cruz, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Aid to Ukraine: too little, too late?
Talking Point House of Representatives finally 'met the moment' but some say it came too late
By The Week UK Published
-
5 generously funny cartoons on the $60 billion foreign aid package
Cartoons Artists take on Republican opposition, aid to Ukraine, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The hollow classroom
Opinion Remote school let kids down. It will take much more than extra tutoring for kids to recover.
By Mark Gimein Published
-
Magic mushrooms and the mind
The Explainer A growing number of states and cities are legalizing the use of psychedelic fungi in therapy. Some experts think that’s a big risk.
By The Week US Published
-
Ageing boomers: America’s looming crisis
Under the radar A person turning 65 today in US has an almost 70% chance of needing long-term care
By The Week Staff Published
-
The fight against malaria
The Explainer After declining for decades, deaths from the disease are suddenly on the rise. What’s changed?
By The Week US Published
-
The 'forever chemicals' in our water
PFAS compounds are used in thousands of products — and have been linked to numerous health risks. Should we be worried?
By The Week Staff Published
-
The dramatic rise of vaping in the UK
feature Increasing numbers of children are using e-cigarettes adding to the growing chorus of alarm over the potential impact on public health
By The Week Staff Published
-
The ‘dramatic’ rise of ADHD
feature Diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have risen sharply in the UK
By The Week Staff Published
-
Good health news: seven surprising medical discoveries made in 2023
In Depth A fingerprint test for cancer, a menopause patch and the shocking impacts of body odour are just a few of the developments made this year
By The Week Staff Published