Assisted Dying

[Nordione1]

I dont know what section to put this in. Im more upset about the vote for it than I thought I'd be. I feel like we have crossed a rubicon somehow.

I haven't read the full thread as it's such an emotive and upsetting issue.

I'm glad this bill has been passed. For me, it's all about choice. My dad, my sister and I all watched my mum die in pain and without dignity and both my sister and I were diagnosed with PTSD a year after it. My dad died two months after she did and we're both convinced that the pain and shock from what he had witnessed contributed to his death. Our mum had pancreatic cancer and she suffered terribly. I can still remember her cries of pain 15 years later and it was devastating to watch this wonderful, vibrant woman fade away in such pain. She begged us to end her life and I have no doubt in my mind that she would have made the choice to end her own life, had she had this option. I feel relieved that other people have a choice.

So your DH would not choose assisted dying. That is his choice.

But his feelings should not stop someone else making a different choice.

I don't think so. What is your evidence for alleging this?

To those who are saying we should have good palliative care, DH did have great support. However no amounts of drugs could overcome the pain he was in, so he spent his last days in pain & a drug induced haze of confusion.

I am very sorry to hear that. I have no other words to say but condolences

I would be in favour of AD - IF there’s was no chance of it being abused as it has been in other countries and it it was only available to people who have the mental capacity to make an informed choice, on the grounds of unbearable physical suffering.

But sadly I just don’t think it will be. And to those saying it is not going to be available to people suffering from mental illness and depression, just because it doesn’t now, doesn’t mean that the eligibility criteria won’t be widened later on. It’s happened elsewhere.

My sentiments exactly.

My concern is that over time, it will be generally assumed that people receiving certain diagnoses should want to end their lives, much as there is a general assumption with prenatal screening that women carrying a foetus with certain genetic anomalies will choose an abortion, and that there will be little or no support for people who don't want to make that choice. If it becomes the norm to choose to die when you get a terminal diagnosis, palliative care might cease to exist completely.

I had very mixed feelings and have never seen someone die in agony. Reading what some people have gone through, days or weeks of torture, I am glad that option is now available tbh.

I totally agree with assisted dying, however, there has been a lot of emphasis on “forcing” people down this path. I’m not sure if anyone has looked at the relatives left.

I recently had my dog PTS, and the guilt I am feeling about whether it was too early is painful, although I know that the decision had to be made at some time.

If that was a family member, would the guilt be more - I don’t know

I'm so glad this is going to happen in my lifetime. It will take a long time to make it into practice because it has to be stringently legislated and planned for, but such a huge step in the right direction. My life is my own to value as I see fit.

Omg, there is individual agency. We are not in Blade Runner territory. Palliative care will continue and improve as Govt now under scrutiny.

under the proposed legislation it won't be your decsion to make

So many people who support it are saying something along the lines of, "I watched it and don't want to watch it again, so yipee". YOU are the pressure opponents are concerned about. Presuming you have made your feelings about watching mum, for example, die abundantly clear to mum, mum will feel pressured to not put you through that so will ask a disinterested NHS box tickers to tick the kill box.

This is going to be abused.

Another thing.
Who decides you have less than six months to live?
Your doctor, a specialist who knows you or a physicians associate or a bloke in an office somewhere in DWP central who decides he'd like a performance bonus for finding PIP claimants he can get rid of.
My guess is that's going to be the method of abusing the system.

It will be misused. That is the whole problem.

Anti depressants are the most commonly prescribed tablets in this country. I'm on them, your boss may be on them, Keir Starmer may be on them. They do not in any way compromise capacity.

The NHS is stretched to breaking point and on its knees, mental health services are woefully underfunded. A large proportion of the elderly are struggling financially - especially now that a lot of them won’t be getting the WFA annymore and food and energy prices are constantly on the rise. What could possibly go wrong? 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Dignitas costs over £10,000. Unaffordable to many.

Having watched 50 year old DH recently die a slow and agonising death, spending months existing in pain with zero quality of life, I welcomed the news. We wouldn’t let a dog suffer the way he did.
It has made losing him all the more traumatic.

No, it has to be the express wish of the individual.

AD didn’t help me 🤷‍♀️

Who could easily be coerced into it if they are elderly and vulnerable.

Ah ok, I understand. This is where I’m not sure how it will help in many cases as someone with dementia or who is extremely unwell may not be able to make the decision anyway.

Sorry but what's that got to do with it? Someone on antidepressants probs doesn't have a prognosis of 6 months or less to live?

Me too OP..a very sad day

My issue with this is that it’s a false dichotomy. Good palliative care shouldn’t be contingent on withholding people’s rights to bodily autonomy at death.

We absolutely need better hospice care. We also need to give people the freedom to choose what a good death looks like to them. For some, that might be walking the journey to its natural end and relying on their faith to support them. For some, that might be choosing the day of their death and spending a peaceful final week feeling in control as they say their goodbyes. Both are absolutely valid options and should receive the same level of support.