To think people with terminal illnesses should be allowed to choose assisted death?

Yes, so let's properly fund palliative care, then maybe talk about assisted suicide. And how are you going to maintain quality of life for someone with dementia? Someone whose life has revolved around their intellect and their ability to help others?

And I'm pretty disgusted that people think they should have the right to have someone else kill them.

So why not just take an overdose of something rather than put that burden on the state? Because it's difficult to obtain those drugs. Quite recently a woman had to suffer a police search and confiscation of the drugs she had ordered online.

Remember you only hear about successful suicides. You don't hear so often about the unsuccessful ones.

This seems to come up every other day now. Are we to be harangued into agreement and told we are mean and should kindly ignore the shit show in Canada until the third reading?

Because you may no longer be physically able.I knew a man who ended his life as soon as he had his cancer diagnosis. a fine man, of great value in the community. If assisted dying were available, he would not have felt the need to die so soon.

Assisted dying is the road to eugenics.

At the moment people say “you wouldn’t put a dog through that,” once terminal illness becomes legal it will be “you wouldn’t put a cancer patient through that,”. Then they’ll fight for mental illness, (there are already people on other threads who say things like “when assisted dying for mental illness becomes legal,” and then it will be disability.

Anyone who thinks it won’t be open to coercion is naive.

And really, why do you need the state to end your life? Everyone has the ability to commit suicide don’t they?

From what I gather, the bill is going to make it possible to have the drugs, but you’re going to have to be able to take them independently. So why not just take an overdose of something rather than put that burden on the state?

So because someone is terminal, they should just die straight away? Have I missed something? Is someone suggesting compulsory euthanasia for the terminally ill?
How about actually providing quality end of life care? Can't we do both? Indeed, if we weren't keeping people a;ive against their will, we might have an easier job providing care for the rest.

Yes, so let's properly fund palliative care, then maybe talk about assisted suicide.

Yes you can live for years, but the final months and weeks can still be awful.

It shouldn’t have to be an either or. People should be able to get palliative care and then choose to die.

I do agree that palliative care is not adequate as it is and assisted dying might make it even less of a government priority though.

If I understand correctly, pain management now at end of line operates within a thin line between elevating pain and hastening end of life just by the very nature of the drug prescribed.

I’m actually pretty disgusted that 1 in 5 people who’ve voted so far don’t agree with you.

Of course you are NBU.

Having seen and being present with close loved ones slowly dying when they didn’t want to be here I 1 million percent agree. Traumatic for everyone particularly the person dying. I wholeheartedly support assisted dying if this is what the person wants and they have capacity.

Switzerland's health service isn't breaking at the seams and its social care isn't up against the wall. Imagine thinking that the financial and social landscape of people making assisted dying a reality here to be akin to Switzerland - it's breathtakingly naive.

I don't know a single person who doesn't think it should be allowed, very obviously with appropriate safeguards. There's certainly plenty to debate around the legal framework for it, but I'm in favour.

So many of us have witnessed loved ones in prolonged and agonising terminal illnesses that nobody should have to suffer. Yes, palliative care should be focused on and improved. But that doesn't take away from the fact that sometimes they just can't do enough to give someone more than continued and painful existence. I'd be interested to hear what medical professionals think; every nurse I've ever met has told me they too wish they could help people once it gets to a certain point.

I pray that if and when I'm in that situation, I will be allowed to choose the point of no return and be given some dignity around it. My daughters are well aware of my wishes, and I am well aware of my own mum feeling exactly the same.

I am being treated for cancer stage 4, luckily it’s curable. People don’t realise you can live years and even be NED when in pallivite care. Even with palative chemotherapy, it’s widely known as maintenance chemo now.
I understand for people with no quality of life eg MND as it progresses, you should have a choice.

So because someone is terminal, they should just die straight away?

I appreciate some people are against AD, but it's disingenuous to suggest that anyone is saying that people with a terminal diagnosis should all immediately just die.

It's never this simple though. What's a terminal illness? If you were diagnosed with MS tomorrow you could say you were terminally ill with a progressive disease. But should you be able to end your life at that point? If not, when? Personally I think if you start allowing that, you're already starting to imply that's a life not worth living, and that's very problematic.

Out of interest, are you against things like advance directives to request no attempt at resuscitation, because of the risk of being pressured etc?

I'm aware it's different because AD is "active" whereas not resuscitating someone is more passive. But still, it could result in the death of someone who has been pressured into it.

Technically anyone can end their life at any time. Why should someone have to do that for you?

Did you miss the word "option" in the OP?

Exactly this. My life - my choice.

I’d rather we focussed on a better end of life. Good palliative care.

too many things can go wrong with assisted death.

Of course they should. I'm not even sure why we have to wait for an illness to be terminal, tbh.

there is a bill going through parliament on this very issue

Does the UK have a good track record when it comes to not fucking things up then?