I understand both sides of the assisted dying debate. The level of disability hate in our country is so high and many people would face pressure to take this option. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/10/esther-rantzen-now-too-physically-fragile-to-end-her-life-in-switzerland
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But one thing I don't buy is the argument that "we should fix palliative care first". There's no way that just because you don't legalise assisted dying the government will work hard to fix palliative care.
It requires money and the major political parties have decided that no additional expenditure is possible because people don't want to be taxed and because they have agreed to play by a set of fiscal rules that binds their hands.
Then there's me personally. If I have to come off my medications or they stop working for me, I will be reduced to lying in bed in agony all day, every day. Throwing up from pain. In abysmal pain, the whole time.
Then there's me personally. If I have to come off my medications or they stop working for me, I will be reduced to lying in bed in agony all day, every day. Throwing up from pain. In abysmal pain, the whole time.
I also worry about an eventual death from kidney failure, meaning that I essentially drown in fluid overload inside myself. These prospects of life and death respectively terrify me, and I know that not all pain can be palliated.
This is why I am a member of DIGNITAS. I want it for me, I am afraid. But the problem is, of course, as per the link above, you will always have to go before you are ready. You cannot afford to be complacent and think, "oh, tomorrow will do".
I also worry about an eventual death from kidney failure, meaning that I essentially drown in fluid overload inside myself. These prospects of life and death respectively terrify me, and I know that not all pain can be palliated.
But one thing I don't buy is the argument that "we should fix palliative care first". There's no way that just because you don't legalise assisted dying the government will work hard to fix palliative care.