To wonder why no party supports assisted dying?

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasHorrid]

It seems that there is a lot of support for an assisted dying bill in this country. There have been attempts to pass an assisted dying bill but MPs have rejected it.

This is something I feel strongly about. I would vote for almost any party that campaigned to pass an assisted dying bill.

Why is there no party willing to press this issue? My gut says it's something the Lib Dems should support but I can't see Tim Farron going for it.

Apologies op I see you mentioned Tim and hadn't read the post properly.

I am so. Inflicted on this as like irregular I am from a long line of women who live long and have altzimers. My mum already has vascular dementure and asked me twice yesterday what my name was

I know she would rather die than desend further but it's not on the cards with altzimers as you couldn't give consent at the time.

I think more people will be committing suecide earlier to prevent this in the future.

When, im not sure about the financial thing, but if it was law then i bet a few people would use it in order to gain some money. Sad to say.
I agree with assisted dying, but it would have to be fool proof and that would be hard i suppose. No easy answers.

ANd to add though with cancer we used to 'up the drip' of morphine to control the pain for the dying. Morphine causes respiratory arrest eventually so it goes on now in hospitals and at home administered by caring GPs and nurses

I am in favour but the legislation would be a nightmare to draft and get through.

I'm pro assisted dying.

It's my body, my life and my death.

Keep your fear mongering, fairy stories out of it.

The Tories already support this albeit covertly. Taking away benefits from disabled and vulnerable ill people and making them work has resulted in thousands of deaths already. It's working for them.

Personally I think it's too important to be used by one political party - it needs a cross party working group to implement it but I think we'll be waiting a long time for that.

As it is, I'll be creating a living will and be saving funds for the trip to jolly Switzerland seeing as we've got a history of dementia in our family. I can't see how having to leave your home country in such circumstances can be considered the more humane option, but at least the MPs here can feel that their consciences are at ease.

ANd to add though with cancer we used to 'up the drip' of morphine to control the pain for the dying

waitforit sorry to hear about your mums dementia, sounds really upsetting.
Does the "upping the drip" still happen? I remember my grandad dying and the registrar was very reluctant to up his morphine and sedatives. He was in pain, distressed and on the Liverpool care pathway - so we knew he had days to live.
I wish he'd died from an upping of his morphine on the Friday rather than staggering on till Sunday. Distressing for him and horrible to watch. I know many of my family would have a living will set up to try and avoid that kind of death.

Just want to make it clear, there is a difference between someone clearly suffering, and no way out, where you are just delaying the inevitable, and a policy of dehydration towards anyone who simply needs one-to-one nursing care, is deemed to lack mental capacity but otherwise knows who they are, where they are, recognises family and so on - but has been covertly targeted for the morgue anyway.

The arguments re assisted dying aren't on religious, moral or philosophical grounds - it seems they want you to think that, it's misdirection. The argument is about state control.

newspaper

You will find that in any care home scandal, it is always a concerned relative behind its exposure, and never ever a hospital consultant, care home GP (generally in the pay of the care home and on a retainer) and certainly not Social Services (your cash-strapped local Council saves a fortune from deathtrap care homes, so letting them be head of Safeguarding is putting the fox in charge of the hen house

Hi newspaper, just wanted to say how much I agree with your post. I'm sure there are some abusive relatives out there, but unless anyone can show me otherwise I don't think this has been a big issue in countries that have assisted dying.

Liz Carr, the actress is very articulate about this.

assisted living

I do not agree with "assisted dying" - or "killing vulnerable people" being a general thing - I find the issue of who will do it to be troubling. Case by case, through the courts as is done presently provides safeguards for both sides.

Anyone who would apply for the job is probably not someone you'd want doing it! And once it becomes "a thing", then people who would not want to do it, will become required to or be put under pressure to do so as part of their "revised job description".

We need to have a sensible, grown-up debate about end of life provision and care, including assisted dying. But the whole issue is so emotive that no party wants to touch it with a barge-pole until they are absolutely forced to

when so sorry to hear about your grandad. Hospices are far better at handling this than hospitals. My darling mil had a long chat with me just before she had her drip upped and she was able to say her goodbyes to her family and they told her how much they loved her too. She was in pain from gangrene and the upped her morphing. No one should or has to die in pain. Your registrar was wrong imo.

But it's a legal minefield no denying that.

Great thread by the way and we do need this debate from the politicians

snyone who would apply for the job you wouldn't want doing it

Hospice nurses you mean? Stopping pain and bringing calm to a dying person often decreases the respiratory system and leads to a quiet dignified death. It happens now.

Where do we draw the line? Article below says people in the Netherlands are choosing euthanasia for MH issues. It's one thing for someone with a terminal illness to choose it, quite another for someone with a treatable condition.

www.google.co.uk/amp/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/11/netherlands-sees-sharp-increase-in-people-choosing-euthanasia-du/amp/

Did anyone else hear the memoirs of a neurosurgeon that r4 serialised a few weeks ago? He said that early on in their treatment terminal patients often want to make plans for how to hasten the end if necessary, but that towards the end a strong will to live often kicks in even if they're in great pain and distress. I thought that was interesting. I agree with assisted death as a principle, but I do think 'I'd rather die than rot in a home' is a) mostly said by people for whom it's a hypothetical question, not an actual choice they're facing and b) a better argument for better quality elder care than for legal euthanasia.

If a living will is carefully worded, can that almost be comparable to having assisted dying?

groupie that's interesting. My grandmother (sadly) repeatedly said she wanted to die in the months before her death, but I think that was very much to do with the loss of my grandfather. On the one hand I wonder if she should have been allowed to choose her own end, but on the other if a bereaved younger person lost the will to live we'd never consider helping them on their way as a moral option.

My dm had an extremely painful form of cancer and in the end I think she was probably deliberately given too much morphine but the doctors. I love them for it.

I think though a subject like assisted dying would be a cross-party issue, with people for and against in all the parties.

Would be interesting to see a study into how many would take up assisted suicide as opposed to assisted dying.

"Press this button/blink twice/blow in this tube/whatever and you will die" as opposed to having some health professional hasten the end.

Old relatives I know would not dream of killing themselves, but would (in some cases) be happy for someone else to do it for them. I don't think I like that. I think if someone wants to die, then they should be fully aware, they should be choosing that pathway. Calling it assisted dying "prettifies" it - assisted suicide - would be a better terminology.

To me this is a total no brainer. We have massive worldwide overpopulation. We are living longer but a large portion of that is in very poor health. By choosing to die we will not only be helping our kids but we would no longer be a burden on the state. What's not to like?

sleep

So you think all old people should kill themselves or be killed.

As it's a no brainer guessing you are quite young

Don't be ridiculous. I think any adult should be able to choose to die regardless of their age as long as they go through the correct channels and fulfil the criteria.

No I'm not young.

It's rather erroneous to draw parallels between putting animals to sleep and humans. Yes, we see human suffer more, however we also see lots of animals euthenised because it's to expensive to keep them in shelters (which for humans could equate to old peoples homes) or their treatment would cost too much. The age old argument of there being too many of them to be sustainable is also relevant. As we live in a capitalist environment where you can bet even a human life has been given a price tag, how long before market forces dictate after x age people are no longer productive and if they cannot keep themselves they should be euthenised and the family given the bill along with the funeral expenses?
That is why assisted dying is kept between medical staff and families and not politicised.