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 the majority (55 in November) but is nonetheless enough to make the Bill’s supporters nervous.
Amongst the amendments introduced and approved during the debate on the 13th June was a clause to ban “advertisements whose purpose or effect is to promote a voluntary assisted dying service”. So, any London Ad Agency creatively preparing its pitch to Dignitas can now turn its attentions elsewhere.
The new change caused some initial consternation on this website, too. Are we “advertising” ? Are we “seeking to influence people’s choices” ?
The answer to the first question is reassuringly clear. We are not advertising. We provide information, that is all. We ensure that it is unbiased, thorough and (above all) free. However, do we seek to influence opinion ? Well, yes we do. There is a section on the site emphasising the dangers of do-it-yourself suicide attempts, a large proportion of which fail and leave the patient with very damaging long-term health effects. It would certainly be ironic if a Bill intended to legalise Assisted Dying in the England and Wales were also to have the effect of removing such a warning.
Incidentally, this is no longer just a UK website. In the first half of June we received 4,366 viewings from 1,006 visitors. Of these, 31% were from the USA, 27% from the UK and 42% from the rest of the world – including (in fifth place) Argentina at 4%.
