Now this is undoubtedly going to be a contentious issue. A recent poll conducted by Comres (http://www.comres.co.uk/systems/file_download.aspx?pg=545&ver=1) for Panorama shows that 74% of people support the right for those who are terminally ill to be granted the choice of assisted suicide. Now personally, I do think this is a good thing, obviously it should not be extended to anyone, but if you are severely suffering you should be granted that choice to end the pain a torment which is not only inflicted upon yourself but also those loved ones around you.
Max
This is one of those issues that really does cross party lines, and any attempt at political point scoring on this would be shameful. This is really an issue which everyine has the right to their own opinion and no be troubled for it.
On the issue of popular support, rule by the majority is a dangerous rule of thumb. It has led to Switzerland (which is virtually ruled by referendum) passing laws banning mosques being built. This country has a representative system. Of course the views of the people should count, and that is covered by people being able to remove their representative if they want to.
I have every sympathy for people in this position. These are often really heart-breaking circumstances and I would not wish to judge anyone who is put in the position of caring for someone who is terminally ill, or in pain. My own Grandmother died 18 months ago after suffering (and she very often did really suffer) from renal cancer for two years. Though it was sad when she died, it was also a real relief to know that she was at last in peace. Having said that, we (my family and I) still, despite much pain at times, were oftemn able to enjoy the last few months we had with my grandmother. Though at times she suffered horribly, she also at times did not, and was often very very happy surrounded by the people she loved. She got to see me turn 21, my sister turn 18, me graduate for my first degree and meet my current girlfriend (whom she rather told me I would marry) Despite the suffering she doubtless endured, I am positively certain that she was glad to have lived as long as she did and that she would not have wanted help to die.
On a less personal, more political level, I am very uncomfortable with a change in the law on this issue. I think changing the law to permit assisted suicide, is a very dangerous road to go down. For the number of people who actually want to do this for genuinely humane reasons and who are obeying the wishes of the person for whom they care, there is, a very great risk that some people will abuse it for a variety of reasons (whether because they themselves are tired of caring for them or for some sort of financial gain). My mother is a day-carer, who says that in her experience for every 3 people she cares for who have very sensitive and helpful relatives, there is at least another 2 who are obnoxious, impatient and lacking in empathy. That of course does not mean that these people are killers in waiting. It is however a point I am making to show why I am concerned that a law on assisted suicide will create a legal loophole for people killing burdensome relatives.
What should happen, is that, as in the case of the recent man who was charged with assaulting a burglar who had threatened him and his family, is that judges should use their power as judges to take these sort of cases into account. In this case, the judge found the person guilty of assaulting the burglar (he chased him down the road and beat him) but, very sensibly (even if on appeal), ruled that given the trauma of the experience, his response was understandable and so his sentence was wavered. It is for judges to dispense justice in the light of the individual case and in cases of assisted suicide involving a terminally ill patient, judges should be able to exercise these powers to grant mercy in understandable cases.
It is, as I have said, however a very nasty issue for which there are lots of different opinions but virtually no right and wrong answers.