Today in Parliament, Lucy Allan MP asked the Prime Minister whether he would reconsider the law on assisted dying. Lucy paid tribute to Noel Conway, a campaigner for assisted dying who recently passed away following his own decision to end his life. Mr Conway, who had motor neurone disease, had campaigned for terminally ill people to have the right to end their own lives in dignity. You cam read more about Noel's story here.
Around the world, other countries have arrived at a compromise by introducing laws that give terminally ill, mentally competent adults the freedom to choose an assisted death within a strict set of safeguards. This is crucial to ensure that patients are the key decision makers and that those who are medically unable to make a decision of this magnitude cannot be exploited.
In the US, such a law was introduced in Oregon twenty years ago, and similar laws have since been adopted in other states, such as California, Vermont, Washington and Washington DC. In Canada too, an assisted dying bill was passed in 2016, in the Australian state of Victoria, a bill was passed in 2017 and in New Zealand, such legislation is now being considered.
Lucy has long been a supporter of the right of terminally ill people to pass away on their own terms. You can read more on this website here.
