The Student Room Group

The 'right to die' bill got rejected

News Story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34208624
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Let's talk about this. Just don't go full bonkers down there because most people have good opinions and we all want to read them lol.
(edited 8 years ago)

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Reply 1
Avatar for Jebedee
Jebedee
17
Does it matter though? You can fly to Switzerland pretty cheap these days.
Reply 2
Avatar for miser
miser
20
It's a failure of democracy when the public so overwhelmingly support a bill, but the political representatives vote it out anyway.

MPs are out of touch with so much, I suppose it oughtn't be surprising their views have failed to keep pace with public sentiment.
Reply 3
Avatar for ZuluK
ZuluK
17
religiously - its wrong

personally - I believe its up to the person and their circumstances. my gran suffered for 8 months and lost all her dignity and was actually begging not to take her medication and I know if she asked me to help her I would've, had it been legally allowed in both the courts or my religion.

no one should have to suffer during the end of their life and should have the right to end their life on the terms they want but only in extreme circumstances. not just for the sake of 'my bf broke up with me so lets kill myself' but for legitimate reasons for both the person themselves and their family.
Original post by miser
It's a failure of democracy when the public so overwhelmingly support a bill, but the political representatives vote it out anyway.

MPs are out of touch with so much, I suppose it oughtn't be surprising their views have failed to keep pace with public sentiment.


I couldn't put it any better than this.
whats the difference between this and abortion
Reply 6
Avatar for BigItch
BigItch
1
I think they should of allowed it to happen if i was a severe vegetable I would want to end my life, It should be allowed I would encourage people who are not able to end their life to get family members to do it for them. If i was wheelchair bound and mental i would tell my family to push me off the end of a cliff
Original post by miser
It's a failure of democracy when the public so overwhelmingly support a bill, but the political representatives vote it out anyway.

MPs are out of touch with so much, I suppose it oughtn't be surprising their views have failed to keep pace with public sentiment.


How do you know the majority support it?


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Reply 8
Avatar for Synchyst
Synchyst
2
The bill should not have gone through a poll in the first place or bee discussed in parliament.

No one should be committing suicide no matter how bad they are suffering. This is totally my opinion. The fact that a doctor can tell you how long you have left to live is total garbage. There are countless numbers of cancers who have defeated cancer after being told they have a certain number of months to live.

Only God knows.
Reply 9
Avatar for miser
miser
20
Original post by Underscore__
How do you know the majority support it?


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Please see this poll: http://www.populus.co.uk/Poll/Dignity-in-Dying/

It records that 82% of those interviewed supported the bill.
I think it should be allowed.
Only in certain situations. For example if you are terminally ill and you are living in hospital with absolutely no quality of life, just waiting to die. People should have quality in death and if that means euthanasia then I will accept that.


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Original post by miser
Please see this poll: http://www.populus.co.uk/Poll/Dignity-in-Dying/

It records that 82% of those interviewed supported the bill.


It was a poll of just over 5,000, that hardly represents the views of 45,000,000


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Disappointed as I believe people should have the right to end their life.
It's a shame it was rejected.

I believe mentally competent, terminally ill adults should have that choice to end their life should they so wish to.
Original post by miser
Please see this poll: http://www.populus.co.uk/Poll/Dignity-in-Dying/

It records that 82% of those interviewed supported the bill.


Not a particularly accurate poll when it's only 5,000, they've only asked adults and it's only been carried out on the internet.

One of the major problems with the GE polls were that the majority were carried out on the internet.
Original post by Jebedee
Does it matter though? You can fly to Switzerland pretty cheap these days.


Not really. If you are in no position to travel they can't legally fly you there and so you are stuck in this pathetic country.

It is absolutely disgusting that the government decides how I must die. We are definitely a police state. What happened to an individual's Liberty? I have elderly in my family who are very scared about being in a vegetative state but having to live through it. Disgusting what the politicians do nowadays.
Original post by Gears265
Not really. If you are in no position to travel they can't legally fly you there and so you are stuck in this pathetic country.

It is absolutely disgusting that the government decides how I must die. We are definitely a police state. What happened to an individual's Liberty? I have elderly in my family who are very scared about being in a vegetative state but having to live through it. Disgusting what the politicians do nowadays.


I totally agree. We need our own Dr Kavorkian.
Reply 17
Avatar for viddy9
viddy9
16
Original post by Starvation13
Personally,I'm against the bill, not only for religious reasons but also for the fact that allowing the bill IMO would've lead some people to commit suicide when the diagnosis could've been wrong, it's difficult to say whether someone actually has 6 months left to live.


It's terrible that the bill was rejected, but I think progress will eventually be made, as it has been in the Netherlands; the US states of Oregon, Vermont and Washington; Belgium and elsewhere.

In my view, the Bill did not go far enough - we should be looking to legalise voluntary euthanasia in general - but it was a good start.

If people are informed of the alternatives and are able to reason, I see no reason why they should see their preference to die frustrated. The rejection of the Bill, which forces people to continue to suffer, is a textbook example of certain people - usually religious - imposing their ethical views on everyone else. The usual arguments - such as the slippery slope to involuntary euthanasia - have been thoroughly disproven by the empirical evidence from Oregon, the Netherlands, and elsewhere. (See here, here and here, for instance.)

As one Conservative MP noted, the hypocrisy of the "pro-freedom libertarians" in the Conservative Party is astounding.

Moreover, making physician-assisted suicide legal provides comfort to people who know that the option is there if they need it. In Oregon, one in fifty patients talk to their doctor about it, and one in six talk with family members, suggesting that the availability of such an escape may be much more important to many patients than its actual use. Indeed, patients in Oregon are 100 times more likely to merely consider assisted suicide rather than actually follow through with it.

Luckily, there is some good news: California has become the latest US state to legalise assisted dying.
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 18
Avatar for miser
miser
20
Original post by Underscore__
It was a poll of just over 5,000, that hardly represents the views of 45,000,000


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Original post by jamestg
Not a particularly accurate poll when it's only 5,000, they've only asked adults and it's only been carried out on the internet.

One of the major problems with the GE polls were that the majority were carried out on the internet.

It's the largest poll ever done on it in the UK, so it's the most representative of any of the survey data you'll find on the subject.
Original post by miser
It's the largest poll ever done on it in the UK, so it's the most representative of any of the survey data you'll find on the subject.


It's still not as representative as it could be...

Anyway - do you have any info on its enforcement in other countries? Is it successful? I really would like to make up my mind for my politics class.

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