Debates on Assisted Suicide

I fully accept that suicide, assisting or encouraging suicide, assisted dying and euthanasia are all subjects on which it is entirely possible for people to hold widely different but defensible opinions. For those coping with terminal illness it is distressing and difficult both for the patient and their families. These cases are truly moving and evoke the highest degree of compassion and emotion. This is why the substance of the law in this area is not a matter of party politics but of conscience.

Whilst assisting or encouraging suicide has not yet been decriminalised, I believe the application of the law as it stands should be flexible enough to distinguish the facts and the circumstances of one case from another. Should there ever be a vote to legislate on this issue in the future, I firmly believe it should be a free one.