The UK Bill to legalise Assisted Dying in England and Wales will receive its final vote in the House of Commons on Friday 20th June. It is going to be close. According to the campaigners against it, 18 MPs have changed their minds since last November’s vote in favour. That is not enough to remove… Continue reading UK would ban adverts for Assisted Dying
This website has received a number of enquiries about the recent changes to Oregon’s laws on Assisted Dying. On the face of things, Oregon has opened its doors to foreigners who want to travel there for help to end their lives. Well, yes they have – but it’s not so simple as that. Following a… Continue reading Oregon’s choices widen – slightly
The French National Assembly has voted to support a Bill that would allow assisted voluntary suicide. It passed by 305 votes to 199 with 57 abstentions. The vote in favour, 61% of those present, was notably greater than the 55% who supported the British equivalent in November 2024. This, understandably, has given great encouragement to… Continue reading France votes in favour
If yesterday’s debate in the House of Commons had been a football match, it would have been a nil nil draw. This was the Report Stage of the Bill’s progress. After approving the Bill in principle last November, the House had set up a Committee to scrutinise its contents “line by line”. Yesterday was when… Continue reading Assisted Dying Bill – Report Stage
This evening’s vote, by 70 to 56, in the Scottish Parliament to continue with their support of Liam McArthur MSP’s Bill to legalise Assisted Dying will be the cause of many a sigh of relief amongst right-to-die campaigners on both sides of the border. At times during the debate, it rather felt as though the… Continue reading Success in Scotland
UK opinion polls for the past five years have consistently shown majority support for Assisted Dying. Most recently the figures have been between 70% and 80%. It is therefore puzzling that the success or failure of the current Bill going through the House of Commons should be considered a matter of touch and go when… Continue reading Public opinion vs Political inertia
The London Times of 1st May carried a story headed “Assisted dying bill losing support of MPs”. The story was based on a survey of MPs’ opinions, conducted by Care Not Killing. This reported that 42% were now against, 36% were still in favour and 13% were undecided. The survey itself is of limited importance. … Continue reading Assisted Dying Bill to fail ?
Dignitas has just released its Review of 2024 and its outlook for 2025. In 2024 it provided a total of 280 assisted suicides. Of these, 20% were from the USA, 20% were French, 13% were British, 12% were from Israel and 8% were from Italy. The rest were from 32 other countries including Switzerland itself. … Continue reading Dignitas statistics
Today, Wednesday 2nd April, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who is the most senior Roman Catholic in England and Wales, has told his congregations to lobby their local MPs against the current Assisted Dying Bill. No surprise there, but the reason he gives is distinctly disingenuous. He says Parliament has not given this important measure sufficient debating… Continue reading Assisted Dying – the pushback continues
Pegasos has helped a British woman to die without her family’s knowledge, despite promising to take steps to ensure this would not happen. The case made a lead item on the ITV news and was covered in the following day’s edition of The Times. The woman was aged 51 and had been living in South… Continue reading Bad PR for Pegasos
