Muddled thinking on assisted dying

The starting point is to examine improvement of palliative care within the current legislative framework.

I did pose this question to one of the major proponents of ‘assisted dying’. The following response was received from him. I quote the response with my comments in brackets:

l Palliative care isn’t available to 5% of the population because of allergies to opiates and underlying conditions (I question the basis of these statistics but conjecture they come from the state of Oregon whose capital, Portland, is known for its quirky avant garde culture).

l 28.7% of assisted dying patients in Oregon cited inadequate pain control as a factor in their decision (again from some study from Oregon?).

Some people (myself included) would rather die than spend months in a state of drug-induced vegetation.

In short, even if palliative care was perfect, I think people should be able to decide for themselves whether they want it or not.

I suggest those bringing the requete have adopted a statistically selective and self-indulgent approach to their exposition of the subject.

The chief minister is exhibiting a disturbing absence of political and personal judgement in leading a requete on ‘a matter of conscience’ as well as disturbing level of moral ambiguity in comparison with his leadership on issues such as pornography and child oversight.

ROBERT McDOWALL