Surely no MP can vote for this assisted dying bill

There’s a beguiling simplicity to the idea behind Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, published yesterday. If someone is terminally ill and likely to die within six months and wants to accelerate the process, surely it’s only kind that the state should give two doctors the ability to help them do it rather than force them to endure months of anguish and possibly severe pain. Put in safeguards against undue pressure, make sure proper legal procedures are followed by requiring the imprimatur of a High Court judge, and who can rationally complain?

Well, I can. Any MP thinking of voting in favour at the second reading in two weeks’ time needs to look very carefully both at their own conscience and at the likely consequences to others of allowing this bill to go forward. Any state incursion into the Judaeo-Christian rule against killing for good cause needs looking at very carefully.