Do you think the right-to-die law should change?

Arabel I completely agree with you everyone should have a right to choose their own destiny. It should not be the right of M.P.'s or judges to deliver sentence on anyone who has had enough. If we were allowed to make up our own minds on this and not be dictated to, then we would also have the right to change that decision if we really want to.

Parliamentary laws and regulations don't always reflect the wishes and opinions of the vast majority of the population. All the people I personally know are pro euthanasia, yet it is not currently legal in the UK. It is the same with the death penalty and many other things, such as immigration laws. Go figure….

Unfortunately if you are given the right to be assisted to die, (it is now legal to kill yourself of sound mind or not) it will affect the more vulnerable members of society by making many feel they should die, often due to the effects on family carers who may indirectly put pressure on them. Protecting vulnerable people, is very hard, there is a very fine line between different groups and no safe guards are 100'%. Many people fear a painful death which they have little control over. Hence the need for your energy to fight for good palliative care for all at end of life and better personalised care and support for those who live with painful debilitating long term conditions.

Politicians and doctors should not become killing machines. We may not trust most politicians, but I would like to think I could trust clinicians not to tell my next of kin that it would be better that they stop all active treatment, such as turning off a ventilator just because I have had an acute event, and the clinicians value my normal life as worthless due to double incontinence, inability to walk and dependent on others for personal care. It does and has happened. And this is not counting the DrShipman's of this world who have played God over who lives or dies.

People keep mentioning animals, but they have no choice, and many die because they are strays or not .Some because their owners cannot afford their care.

We can influence Government on care for humans. The Francis and Berwick reports are beginning to have an effect in secondary care, and staffing levels increasing. It is vital that similar action is seen in primary and palliative care to prevent nursing posts being lost. Undue strain is often put on family members changing their position as loving partner to full time carer, hence my earlier reference to being a burden. Little bits of personalised care, can make huge differences on the outlook of life.

@Arabel the thing is at the end of the day if it does finally get put through parliament as bill and then an act passed to the house of lords it will be the mps who have the final say, as it is still not legal to help someone die, because at the moment it has to be the person themselves if they are still able to do so who have to get whatever they are using ready with no interference or help from anyone else and at the moment technically no-one else can be in the room as that person can still be arrested.as Roy on coronation street could be arrested even though he didnt touch the meds or the glass.

heck this country has got so many outdated laws i.e. it is technically illegal to eat a mince pie after 12:00pm on christmas day,hell its technically illegal to try and commit suicide if i remember correctly, but there is still a death penalty but it is only valid in treason and royal assassination.

and if assisted death is finally made legal you can guarentee that there will be requirements that have to be met to make that person's death lawful, as it should be and only qualified medical professionals allowed to do it so that murderers can't use it as a defence

I just hope that it is soon made legal. and for refference no-one made my nan feel like a burden in her last days and no-one made my gramps feel like one either and those people that do make relatives or friends feel that way are the ones in the wrong and deserve to feel even an ounce of the pain that that poor person is in. but thats just my opinion

and also I forgot to put in the post above why is it legal for a family member or spouse to turn off a live support machine ( when it obviously isn't that person's choice if they haven't said about it before), someone to have a DNAR form in any of it's categories as in the trust I work for there are four categories of DNAR or an advanced medical directive to the same affect of an DNAR.... how is it that these scenarios are legal yet assisted death isn't?!?!?!?!? it annoys and amazes me at the same time.

but that being said susan it also comes down to the budget for any specific trust and yes as you said staffing levels. yes there needs to be better pallitaive care that i won't argue but sometimes people are being put into care/ nursing homes by their nhs trust which aren't suitable for them which then affects the pallitive care that the community care team can give as the managerial staff get in the way and say that certain things aren't allowed in their homes.

@susan 342

I have recognised your concerns and then pointed out that it is available in other countries where there is no problem for those who do not wish to avail themselves of assisted death. It seems that you think we, as a more developed and (hopefully) civilised society cannot manage to do the same or better. The inbuilt protections prevent any situation where a person is influenced or made to feel a burden. Take a look at the Swiss model.

We need a range of options that are upheld; nobody either medical or family can intervene; and most importantly our decisions are made before we are in a position where we cannot be regarded as able to make that impartial decision that I believe should be the right of every person should they wish to do so. That does not remove your aim for better palliative care. In the latter case you know that more money and training is required. But money is not available.

We are not going to have money available in the future because the debt is now so large that it will not be repaid in our lifetimes, or that of our children, their children, their grandchildren. We also have to face up to the fact that we are in decline; the whole of the west is in decline. Just a brief look around us demonstrates how so much is falling apart.

At least £100 (B)billion(/B) is needed to repair our roads and that figure will increase when the additional damage to roads is revealed after the flooding. It is not going to help anyone by asking for the impossible. The NHS continues to struggle financially let alone clinically. Education is in dire straits. There are so many areas where we must direct our money or future generations will be deprived and add to the decline.

These are facts. Our present debt is around £1.4 (B)trillion(/B) and rising by the minute because we cannot even balance our annual budget yet. So think about everyone else in society and what they all need. Worse cuts are coming. For the coalition government to be abkle to balance the books they would have needed to introduce such savage cuts at the start that all of us would have been affected very seriously and all those who need the welfare state would be in a terrible position.

You are right in stating that we are a developed country, yet the UK's spending on healthcare is below most other developed countries in the world. Hence there are only pockets of excellent palliative care in the UK. Deciding whether some one is of sound mind is very subjective when depression is a common co morbidity of long term conditions. Who decides what is terminal? We all will die. Most of us want to die with dignity, in a place of our choosing free from pain. Good palliative care can provide the latter for all of us. This should be the norm in any developed country.

People with long term conditions and older people need to be enabled to get the most out of life, however that does not usually happen. It is unlikely than financial pressures will ever go away when there are continually new developments in treatment of conditions such as cancer. It is too easy to think that assisted death is the answer to cutting the cost of providing ongoing care to an ageing population., and that we should not strive to improve palliative care for all. Many peoples life's can be improved by relatively simple measures. Some say assisted death will only affect those who want it however it will influence how society sees the quality of life of others and the latter influence personal decisions.

As a disabled person society tries to influence my life a great deal, putting barriers in the way of what most people would consider normal activities. I am always in a minority. Yes there are days when it seems easier just to end it all, after all most see what I live with a as loss of dignity and worthless. I get abuse trying to claim the usually sole wheelchair space on trains and buses, those who have no need other than thoughtless who pinch blue badge parking spaces, Planners apparently improve access by putting steps where none are needed, put unsuitable surfaces down, think that ticket machines or booking in computers are accessible to all, and our friends at the Government and DWP who try to make out we are scroungers when even most of their assessment centres are inaccessible and or we are deemed a health and safety risk if we wheel ourselves in and use the lift. Many unfit to work are already driven to suicide due to decisions by the DWP., if able to do so unaided, reducing the number of people claiming benefits. Just think of the benefit budget saved by gentle encouragement, like saying assisted death is a good thing to older people and those with long term conditions. making them feel even more guilty for claiming their state pension, ESA ,PIP etc..

I have disabled friends who have their own thoughts on this but I would never, ever make any suggestion to them about assisted dying. Clearly I see now why you are so troubled about this. However your last sentence is unacceptable; that cannot and will not happen. Decisions have to be made before a person reaches that position. Nobody suffering any mental problem would be allowed to make any decision.

Government has already stated that there is no way they can pay for care, either in one's own home or a care home. The problems of an aging population create difficulties in every sphere not just care and surely the NHS comes at the top.

I agree with much earlier comment by marram. I don't see that God has anything to do with it. He let himself off the hook when he gave us all free will.There has to be strict guidelines but the current method of dealing with people whose lives are intolerable is often cruel.

"God" doesn't have to have anything to do with it and I really wish those who disagree with euthanasia would lay off the subject. It doesn't help. What matters is the type of society that is left behind when we cross the line and allow society to 'kill its own'. Over time, I suggest that we could become quite brutalised, believing that people in real pain have the 'option' of self-annihilation if they really wanted to. It is not a realistic clinical choice but, over time, it could be presented as one - and a relatively cheap one at that.

I agree that religion should not come into it. I suspect many in favour of assisted death/euthanasia are fearful of a painful slow death. Campaigning and ensuring that good palliative care is available to all should take away that fear. Unfortunately for those who think that the clear diagnosis of mental health conditions is easy is mistaken. Depression is common and under diagnosed especially in older people and those with long term conditions. People need to trust healthcare professionals. Some make assumptions about a patients quality of life, assisted death is likely to make some act like a god. Whilst Harold Shipman is one end of the spectrum there are likely to be others assisted by a change in law. We should be campaigning for care not killing. The UK needs to spend as much on healthcare as other developed countries. Most of us have paid our National Insurance. If it needs to rise to meet basic, good palliative care and support, that is what should happen not legalising active killing.