Who would envy being an MP today when called upon to vote on a matter of conscience: the assisted dying bill? The issue cuts across party lines, and so whichever way they vote they will offend a good proportion of their own voters. But on the other hand, for once they are being trusted to use their own judgement rather than hiding behind party whips. That, surely, must be liberating.
Might the comfort of knowing that assisted suicide were available at a later date dissuade able people from taking their lives?
And which of us can say we haven’t found ourselves feeling that we must come down on one side or the other? I have a feeling that, were I in the House of Commons, I would still be wavering as I approached the lobbies. There is something deeply disturbing about assisted suicide. The British state stopped executing people 60 years ago; it feels odd that it might again seize the power to take life, even in circumstances where that is what people want.
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