So they voted against the right to die bill, easily as well. It's such a difficult subject. I honestly don't know whether I agree with it or not.
It must be desperately hard if a loved one becomes so ill and in pain they want to pass away with dignity and peacefully, as a person who is a wuss with pain I can't imagine I'll be very good with any chronic illness I might encounter. It does seem sad people can't die as they wish in their own home, surrounded by family, or friends, at their own bidding. But then perhaps our deaths can never be at our own bidding, and that is something we have to accept?
There is a danger that very ill or old people that feel a burden to loved ones, especially if care is expensive and tiring and they may feel they should choose a way out to alleviate things. That is the main argument against it I think. The law would involve two doctors and a judge agreeing so it isn't as if doctors could get away with doing away with patients.
My mum actually suffers with progressive MS which causes a lot of pain, she can't walk and is losing her sight. There will be less and less she can do as the years go on and she relies on help with a lot already. As a Christian I know she would never consider assisted suicide anyway but seeing her in pain is already difficult, so I can't imagine how we will feel when it gets worse as she ages and the disease progresses. Of course Huntingdon's and Motor Neurone Disease are the most widely known culprits of such debilitating symptoms with their unforgiving progression.
If you start losing the ability to function at what point is your quality of life so poor you don't want to go on? Who has the right to decide on where this line is drawn? As it stands you have to go to Switzerland and therefore people have to make the decision while they can still travel or risk a relative or doctor being prosecuted if you manage to persuade them to help you here.
What do you think? It is something we all hope we won't need to consider I guess!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34208624
