Friday 11 September 2015

Assisted Dying Bill Defeated

It isn't very often i find myself alongside the Conservatives and the Church but that's where i find myself in the argument over assisted dying and us unlikely trio are content that the bill that would have made it legal for the terminally ill to end their lives has been defeated in the House of Commons.
Under the proposals, a patient would have to be terminally ill with less than six months to live, mentally fit to make the decision and administer the fatal final dose themselves.
MPs voted 330 to 118 to reject the Bill and now face the cat-calls and condemnation of the many who were calling for the change.
While i fully understand the argument regarding not leaving a fellow human in needless suffering and what right has anyone got to dictate to someone else what they can do and can't do with their lives,  my problem with the whole idea of assisting someone to kill themselves has always been that it would open far too many avenues for abuse and chronic misjudgements.
As much as my heart goes out to anyone suffering and their families who will undoubtedly disagree with everything i have said here, it stops a greater evil further down the road.
The massive grey area for me is vulnerable people being pressured to commit suicide and it is too big an area to ignore.
It would without doubt be misused, their have already been cases of unscrupulous relatives killing, or attempting to kill, elderly relatives to get their greedy hands on an inheritance and we should be concerned for people who would be made to feel or believe that they are becoming a burden on their family.
Despite the condition that the patient had to administer the deadly medicine themselves, there is also the danger where those who are struggling to look after a sick or disabled spouse who can claim they agreed to voluntary euthanasia afterwards or those who do not have the capacity to articulate their feelings but have the decision, and the dose administered, by a well meaning relative or doctor.
Whatever conditions you set, they will be stretched and we would end up with court cases of was-it-murder or was-it-assisted-suicide. It's too easy to have the edges blurred and what we have now, in my opinion, is the best worst option as horrendous as that is for the patients and families.
I think the MP's got this one right as it is a potential minefield we really don't need to wander into.

5 comments:

Liber - Latin for "The Free One" said...
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Falling on a bruise said...

They can still end their lives, just not with the consent of the law.

Liber - Latin for "The Free One" said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Liber - Latin for "The Free One" said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Falling on a bruise said...

Very different ends of the spectrum. Gay marriage is about everyone has the same right as everyone else and nobody is discriminated against while assisted suicide isn't about discrimination whatsoever.