First, I want to thank all of those across North Dorset who have shared their views on the upcoming Assisted Dying Bill. Many have shared, in tear inducing detail, personal family and friendship stories. All have given their views constructively and with considerable passion.
I have given this issue considerable thought. While it is true that the national mood appears to have moved more in favour of the principle, an analysis of my inbox puts it at 60% against. I voted against the proposal in 2015 and I will do so again this week. For some this will be welcome news. For others it won’t. Let me set out my two principal objections to the Bill:
- I am opposed to the death penalty because I believe the State, in all its forms, is capable of making mistakes. So too could it make mistakes on Assisted Dying. I do not believe that medical science is so advanced as to know, within six months, when someone will die. Nor do I believe that the Judiciary have the skill set to sit in judgement on such imprecise health issues;
- Supporters of the Bill are often at great pains to explain how tightly drawn its scope is. I am anxious that legal challenge would, overtime, widen that scope beyond anything which current supporters envisage. How can a Doctor prove, beyond reasonable doubt, the absence of coercion? This could be the grounds for Challenge. Why is 6 months set. Why not 8, 12 or 24? Again, grounds for challenge. Why is the Bill limited to only terminal physical conditions? Challenge under the Human Rights Act or through the ECHR seems to me inevitable as people test legal boundaries. Perhaps it is cowardly of me, but I would prefer to keep the door shut and locked rather than open it by a hairs’ breadth only for legal activism to take us to a place no one wants to be.
My final reservation is perhaps more philosophical. We are our planet’s apex species. We have convinced ourselves that we have a right to control everything. That we are entitled to everything that we want. In broad terms, nature, as a reminder of our human limitations, decides when we enter the world and leave the world. I have witnessed a number of deaths and last weeks of life with relatives and friends over the years. Perhaps I am just lucky in that I have never seen a ‘bad death’. Might my views be different if I had? Perhaps, but I do not think so.
Whether you agree with my stance or not I do want you to know that, as you would expect, I have given long thought and much research to this issue. I will vote with head and heart on Friday. Rest assured I do so in good faith.