Forum Topic

Assisted dying bill

Thoughts?  I am in favour as there will be clear legal safeguards. The so-called palliative care my mother received paid barely lip service and she died from cancer in misery and pain despite our best efforts.I emailed my MP Huq on this and got a lily-livered response about how she hadn't decided and perhaps she should look into it more.  Yes she damn well should as it is of huge importance to the most vulnerable in our society.

Claire Moran ● 70d43 Comments

youtube.com Playing God: An Investigation Into UK Medical Democide Official Trailer

Anna Kirkpatrick ● 6d

What we have at the moment is not far off, people are put on pathway andfamily just told that is what's happening.

Janice Evans ● 17d

As someone with Clinical Depression my views on this are difficult.  As a disabled person I am against it for all the reasons given below in these various articles by the disabled community from The Canary news website.  But being someone who has actively soght to end my life numerous times from the age of 11 yrs I can say where does thisleave those with poor mental health. Can Psychiatrists now not treat the suicidal patient because they want to die?  Is merely wanting to die enough to allow another human being the right to die?  I am pro choice also I believethat we should have choice in these matters but I do not believe politicians and medical doctors arethe ones who should make this policy. Bias comes into every decision we make so we need to be totally aware of what we are asking for and what we are getting.  Until the disabled people in our communites say yes to this I will always say no because after all they will be the first people dying for the sake of the state when they can get away with it under a lawhttps://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2024/11/11/assisted-dying-bill-protest/#google_vignette https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2024/11/28/assisted-dying-balram-patel/#google_vignette https://www.thecanary.co/opinion/2024/10/16/assisted-dying-uk/

Caroline Carney ● 17d

The UK government has announced plans to offer cash to the relatives of the elderly who opt to be euthanised. :(

Anna Kirkpatrick ● 18d

'Its a very very over engineered bill, parts of it read like the protocol for an execution'- Lord Sumptions assessment of The Assisted Dying bill.

Anna Kirkpatrick ● 23d

I’m not sure if that is true. It was a free vote - MPs did not vote on party lines as there was no party line. The one noteworthy aspect of the whole issue was the respect that MPs showed each other during the debate and that nobody was rude or offensive to each other, unlike a couple of posts here.Whilst I can see assisted suicide as the general direction of travel, I personally am not convinced that this bill at this time was the right thing. It will be interesting during the committee stage to see the input of the NHS and the judiciary, for example. There is mention of the need for two doctors and a judge to agree the assisted suicide. The role of a judge is to judge disputes not to rubber stamp a decision of two doctors. If the judge’s role is simply ensure that all the paperwork is in order then it is a waste of her/his time. Any competent administrator can do that.

Stewart Jones ● 24d

What I saw of the Liverpool Care Pathway was truly ghastly and I doubt that it was when it was conceived meant to be that ghastly.I'm not convinced about others having to give consent being good enough. It seems like an excuse to empty those wards in hospital of the 'dying' ie over a certain age with some comorbidities.  This is only for those who are able to give consent.  I'm surprised it hasn't been extended to allow those who are unable to give consent and who just languish bedridden in homes and nursing homes with no quality of life for years unable to recognise their relations.  I wonder how long it will take until it is extended to that.

Philippa Bond ● 25d

It's good to see others would have to give consent instead of just puttingpeople on pathway.

Janice Evans ● 25d

I suppose the Claires/Susans/Steves will be squabbling over who gets to host the suicide pod in their back gardens now ? The moneys sure to be good after all.For the rest of us - the ironic  method of its death by gas asphyxiation is not lost on us. Presumably the ghastly suicide cheerleaders on this thread would have voted for Auschwitz in 1939 ?

Anna Kirkpatrick ● 25d

It was a free vote indeed,which proportionally would have resulted in a completely different spread of seats,if it had represented those who voted.How can a party wit such a small vote logically be given nearly half the seats?

Keith Iddon ● 25d

Some interesting researchhttps://theconversation.com/i-couldnt-care-less-if-i-saw-another-sunrise-what-older-people-who-are-tired-of-life-can-tell-us-about-the-assisted-dying-debate-209756?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20November%2027%202024%20-%203179432428&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20November%2027%202024%20-%203179432428+CID_8c30d4714ba25d4ec63352244aba77a4&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=I%20couldnt%20care%20less%20if%20I%20saw%20another%20sunrise%20%20what%20older%20people%20who%20are%20tired%20of%20life%20can%20tell%20us%20about%20the%20assisted%20dying%20debate

Alastair Banton ● 25d

It was a free vote.

Stewart Jones ● 26d

sp apologies.Parliamentary

Keith Iddon ● 26d

The make up of which would be so different if it were more of a representative Parlaimentary democracy.

Keith Iddon ● 26d

We don't need any more referendums,especially after the last one. we have a Parliamentary democracy

David Burke ● 26d

I’m all in favour of having a choice.

Georgina Flint ● 26d

MPs are elected te represent their constituents  not decide on issues perhaps because their views ate influenced by their own adherence to arcane cults or religious beliefs.  I am not saying that that is why Rupa Huq voted the way she did but given the lack of experience of the real world, including of business, of many MPs I find it terrifying that their own personal preferences can influence something as important as this.They do not know better than most of us. Personally I think on huge issues like this we should have a referendum.  From my perspective fortunately enough MPs voted to give people choice over their own bodies at the end of life but it could have gone the other way.

Claire Moran ● 26d

I am one of Rupa's constituents and was sad to see her vote.But it was a free vote and her decision.I would have preferred a much wider set of criteria for assisted dying but understand that's entirely my preference and don't wish to convert or put under pressure people who feel differently.

Tessa Russell ● 26d

Quite right, Vanessa.  I disagree with Rupa’s stand on this issue, but that’s okay.  MPs have to vote according to their consciences.  The alternative- taking a referendum on every issue and voting accordingly would be absurd.

Alastair Banton ● 26d

'Rupa Huq didn't take any soundings from me or anyone I know in Ealing.'Well, nobody took any soundings from me either, so? You are so, so wrong in dismissing the fact that this was a  matter of conscience for many people, that does not make them wrong, and you are the one who doesn't like facts that don't fit with your views. I accept that the majority of MPs were persuaded that this Bill should proceed, that's democracy in action. I would certainly never deprive anyone of the right to make that choice.

Vanessa Smith ● 26d

Right decision. Still has some way to go to become law.

Chris Dakers ● 26d

Not self righteous, you rude person. Fact.  Result of several polls. You don't like facts that don't fit with your views, do you Vanessa?  Rupa Huq didn't take any soundings from me or anyone I know in Ealing.

Claire Moran ● 26d

OK i googled it.I hope it helps some who are in desparate need for this over whats currently available but im still not convinced its going to be that simple

Julian Pavey ● 26d

'Rupa Huq voted against.  Out of touch with the majority opinion.'It was a free vote according to each individual's conscience and any soundings they may have taken among their constituents. Just because you agreed with this does not give you the right to be so bloody self-righteous. I didn't and neither do a lot of others, and that's nothing to do with being 'out of touch'.

Vanessa Smith ● 26d

Im half in half out.Like many i think. Even many in favour have some good reservations.My reservation is family putting some pressure on someone reguardless of the process. Mind you,i dont like the idea of relegion having a say for many reasons.Did it pass,ive not stuck any radio or tv on

Julian Pavey ● 26d

Rupa Huq voted against.  Out of touch with the majority opinion.

Claire Moran ● 26d

Dame Esther Rantzen; the heroine of the assisted dying W4 cheerleader group - was informed about Jimmy Savilles paedophilia by an abuse survivor Shy Keenan. Rantzen ignored the information and continued to court Savilles friendship.

Anna Kirkpatrick ● 26d

Given that you can't even spell Claire's name correctly, why should we think anything else you post is accurate Ana ?

Richard Greenhough ● 26d

I have never told YOU to stop posting anything on the forum Clare.

Anna Kirkpatrick ● 26d

Oh just stop your unhinged rants.

Claire Moran ● 26d

'These executions  look peaceful from the outside. Thats because the victim has been chemically paralysed first.'- Jacqui Deevoy.X.com    @JacquiDeevoy1  posted November 29thGood luck Chiswick  : (

Anna Kirkpatrick ● 26d

'They ALREADY kill, this is just about taking the mask off' - Kate Shemirani.X.com  @KateShemirani  posted November 29th

Anna Kirkpatrick ● 26d

Assisted dying - the new normal yes ?

Anna Kirkpatrick ● 26d

Should Dr Harold Shipman be given a posthumous knighthood for services to assisted dying ?

Anna Kirkpatrick ● 26d

The right decision.  I am delighted.

Claire Moran ● 26d

I am in favour. The palliative care that my dear friend Rick received at Meadow House Hospice was truly exceptional, he died pain free and with as much dignity as could be resonably expected.However, that did not stop him realising that his condition was terminal and that there would be no way back to anything like normality from an aggressive cancer that had metastasised into every vital organ. At that point he and his family should have been given the choice to pass at a time and place of his choosing. RIP Rick.

N V Brooks ● 69d

I'm in favour and passed on my views to our local Putney MP when the prospect of this bill was first raised.One of my relatives in Canada was lucky enough to be able to benefit from the legality of the process there. She had a neurological disease and could by that stage only give consent by a thumbs up or down. She could no longer speak and that was the limit of her bodily movement.Too often I hear doctors saying that they can do a lot now to ease suffering towards the end of life, but in my head I'm saying no, you are extending suffering more than easing it.

Katrina Black ● 69d

I personally don't agree with this, and would far rather see decent funding for hospices and at home palliative care. However, I do recognise how many people would like to have a choice, and it is right and proper that the HoC debate and decide.

Vanessa Smith ● 69d

I am broadly in favour too although having worked with clients and their families for many years,I appreciate the need for checks and balances as all families are not healthily functioning units and individual biographies in those families is sometimes  a minefield of anger,neglect or abuse.Not all sons and daughters have mummy or daddy's best interests at heart.

Keith Iddon ● 69d

I stayed with my sister every day for last 7 days to make sure they looked after her, you really have to be there if you can, it helps staff as you can be doing other things for your relative like feeding or helping to keepthem comfortable and reassuring them.

Janice Evans ● 69d

Me also.

Janice Evans ● 69d

I’m in favour.

Steve Taylor ● 69d

I'm also in favour although it will do nothing for people with long-term degenerative illnesses.I also want to see proper funding for palliative care. It's an absolute scandal that hospices are largely dependent on charity. If people were certain that they would be kept comfortable in their last few weeks then there would be much less demand for assisted dying.

Susan Kelly ● 69d