The assisted dying debate will return to Parliament this week as a new bill is formally introduced in the House of Commons. A debate on the bill next month will mark the first time the controversial issue has been voted on in the Commons in almost a decade. The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned of a “slippery slope” ahead of an assisted dying bill being officially introduced to Parliament.
Justin Welby told the BBC on Tuesday: “I think this approach is both dangerous and sets us in a direction which is even more dangerous, and in every other place where it’s been done, has led to a slippery slope.” This is everything you need to know about the bill. What is assisted dying? This, and the language used, varies depending on who you ask.
Pro-change campaigners Dignity in Dying say that assisted dying allows a person with a terminal condition the choice to control their death if they decide their suffering is unbearable. They argue that, along with good care, dying people who are terminally ill and mentally competent adults deserve the choice to control the timing and manner of their death. But the campaign group Care Not Killing uses the terms “assisted suicide” and “euthanasia”, and argues that the focus should be on “promoting more and better palliative care” rather than any law change.
Campaigner Liz Carr has insisted that legalising assisted dying would be a country-defining moment but there is no safe way to change the law while guaranteeing the prote.
