The case for change is, we have long argued, overwhelming. In short: there can be a crescendo of suffering as death nears; a doctor's duty is to relieve suffering; some suffering will only be relieved by death; a doctor's duty is to respect a patient's autonomy; some patients rationally and persistently request assistance to die; palliative care cannot relieve all the pain and suffering of dying patients.
Some of the strongest arguments against assisted death are that ill people will seek it either because they are coerced by unscrupulous relatives or make the decision when mentally unwell. These are valid concerns, but they should be assuaged by the strict safeguards it is believed would be in the legislation.
Under the committee's proposal, only adults with decision-making capacity, suffering from a serious and terminal condition, with months or weeks left to live, would be given the choice to die. The patients would need to be able to demonstrate they were mentally competent. Further, two doctors would have to sign off on the prescription of the fatal drug.
Not everyone is going to suffer a slow and excruciating end from terminal illness, but everyone has the moral right, should they be in such extremis, to physician-assisted death. It is overdue that that right become legal, too.
