Is the current law cruel? Campaigners argue that the rules prevent the sickest people in society from ending their lives with dignity and compassion.
MPs get free vote on assisted dying
Is the current law cruel? Campaigners argue that the rules prevent the sickest people in society from ending their lives with dignity and compassion.
Imagine an elderly family member suffering from late-stage cancer. One day that family member asks you to help them die. What would you do?
In Britain, people who help loved ones to die face prosecution and up to 14 years in prison. But this month Parliament will debate a new law, which would allow the sickest people to end their lives.
The campaign for assisted dyinghelping a person to end their life has celebrity support. Polling suggests that twice as many people support changing the law as support keeping it the same.
But critics worry that anyone elderly or unwell would feel pressured into ending their lives.
For those who have watched family members in terrible pain, the fact that they cannot end their life seems deeply unjust. However, if the new bill makes it legal to kill the most vulnerable people in society, this would be even more unfair.
Is the current law cruel?
Yes! If loved ones help the terminally ill die with dignity, they are treated as criminals.
No! Legal changes could pressure vulnerable people into ending their lives to avoid becoming a burden to relatives.
MPs get free vote on assisted dying
Glossary
assisted dying - helping a person to end their life