It will have seemed ironic to many members of Dignity in Dying that the booklet encouraging them to support Lord Falconer’s Bill should have landed on their doormats on the same day as another Bill had emanated from the Private Members’ ballot in the House of Commons. The latter has a much greater chance of success.
Jake Richards MP will now be getting lobbied very hard both by Dignity in Dying and by My Death My Decision. The DiD position is clear, if somewhat extreme. In order to be eligible for an assisted death, a person would need
The MDMD position, based upon the model as practiced in Canada, includes the “two doctors” safeguard but would not limit eligibility to terminal illness and believes any involvement of the judiciary would be both time-consuming and unnecessary. Crucially, MDMD would favour making Assisted Suicide available to sufferers from Parkinsons or early-stage dementia. DiD would oppose it.
So it will be interesting to see what flexibility might be available from Dignity in Dying. A clue may lie in their approach to the discussion in Scotland. The Bill presented by Liam McArthur MSP stipulates that patients must indeed be “terminally ill” and requires two doctors to certify that. But it makes no mention of “six months” and there is no role for a Judge. In spite of these absences, Dignity in Dying has lent the Bill its support.
