44 - Assisted Suicide

Personally, I'm all in favour of assisted suicide and, under the appropriate conditions, can see the need for it to be made legal. But what are the "appropriate conditions"? That's the burning question.

First of all, I think the decision to opt for assisted suicide needs to be a shared one and not one taken by an individual alone on their own behalf in secrecy.

Secondly, there needs to be a grave cause for such a decision. By this, I mean severe, retractable pain, terminal illness, a chronic incurable disease like motor neuron disease or advanced rheumatoid arthritis

And finally, alternative options are not available. Nowadays, the Hospices Foundation are not afraid to use morphine and other analgesics, in life-shortening doses sufficient to allow for death with dignity.

If ever there was a situation open to all sorts of abuse, including murder, it is the legalisation of euthanasia. We are seeing it all the time now, from its use as a "treatment" for depression, to a situation where perfectly healthy and happy couples are choosing a one-way trip to Switzerland to come home in a box.