Big social changes are normally gradual. Not this one.
In a historic moment in the House of Commons, MPs have voted to introduce assisted dying in England and Wales.
Supporters – some of them terminally ill – erupted into cheers outside Parliament.
Opponents vow to fight it in the Lords, although their hopes of preventing the new law are slim.
A clear majority of the British public supports the change, according to polling (including for The i Paper).
The middle-aged are especially vociferous, perhaps because some have seen friends and relatives in extreme pain?
I find myself hesitant. Even with safeguards, it will be impossible to prevent some people from being coerced, or from worrying that they are a burden.
I’m sure many of us can think of people we know. That is the trade-off we are making.
Philosophically, though, I am pro-choice on this. And if you have seen loved ones suffer agonising ends, it is hard to prevent that from shaping your views.
There is nothing humane about forcing a person to endure the sort of death we would deny a dog.
Last summer, a dear friend wrote to me from Australia. His mother, who was terminally ill, had passed away that morning. “Thanks to the recently introduced voluntary assisted dying laws here in New South Wales,” he explained, “she was able to die calmly and without ever reaching too much suffering, at a time of her choosing, and with her beloved immediate family around her.”
Given the choice, that’s what I would choose
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