Terminally ill patients should be given the option of assisted death

5000 people took part in a poll whereby 82% supported Lord Falconer"s Assisted Dying Bill to give terminally ill, mentally competent people the legal option of assistance to die with dignity, 79% of people were religious. 44% of people even said they'd break the law and face 14 years in prison to help someone end their life. [1] A lot of people simply agree with what the majority think, however if the majority of people want rape to be illegal it doesn't mean it should be, if the majority want murder and robbery to be legal should it? The majority are not always right. My first point I made in round two is that there are a considerable number of people who are terminally ill who don't wish to die. It doesn't matter if it's not above 50%, the fact is it is possible to be terminally ill, in chronic pain, and believe that life still has meaning and value, and is worth living. Negative feelings like depression, and despair can and should be treated. There are many different treatments, not just drugs e.g. talking helps. A healthy person will want to live. People who want to die are mentally unwell, allowing someone to make a decision to end their life when in such a mental state is irresponsible. You say the main reasons patients want to die is due to their pain and them thinking they should have a right to choose. However we should be encouraging people to live no matter the degree of suffering, and encourage cures and better treatments. If we legalize assisted suicide then there is no point trying to find better treatments because the answer to pain and suffering is to just kill people. Surely it is wrong to take away people's hopes and wrong to tell people they should kill them self. In the below video, a doctor gave a terminally ill person 3-5 years to live, she is alive 8 years later. Her son likes to see her, and see him succeed yet she wants to end her life. It is selfish to kill yourself when you are loved, and everyone is loved. Her daughter is selfish too, she says her mother only has her voice, that's it, and doesn't want to see her mum suffering so wants her mum to kill herself. Her daughter says she had plans but not anymore, this must make her mother feel guilty and a burden. Nobody should feel this way. Perhaps she was saying those things to inherit money sooner. Whatever her reason she was only thinking of herself. This terminally ill woman only wants to end her life because the option exists. If it didn't exist her daughter wouldn't say those horrible things that make her mum feel like her life has no value or meaning anymore. How can the younger generation believe life has meaning when they don't believe there is when you're older or disabled? What happens when a child is terminally ill? A child isn't old enough to make decisions for them self, is it okay for a parent to choose for them? It is illegal to freeze someone who is still alive because cryotechnology is in its infancy but things can change quickly, it doesn't necessarily take 7 years, have you considered medical trials? Also it will one day in the near future be possible to store a person's consciousness on a computer chip and upload it into a robot. Who knows what the future holds. Imagine if you told someone you love that they should kill themself and a day later you find they didn't have to die, and here was a way they could have been saved from their illness, you could never forgive yourself. You don't need to believe that terminally ill patients should be given the option of assisted death in order to acknowledge they are suffering, or to show you care. You say that a patient who chooses when they die is given time to spend with loved ones, wouldn't they have more time to spend with them if they didn't kill themself? Why is it so important to know how much time you have? Most people don't know how long they have to live, who would want to know? Only a mentally ill person would look forward to dying, and providing them a date to look forward to prevents them from enjoying life, seeing the positive side. Decisions should not be based on fear, such decisions are irrational. Saving people from having a small chance of witnessing someone die slowly and painfullly is not taking the terminally ill person's feelings into consideration. People don't have an obligation to die in a way that doesn't cause distress to those who are unfortunate to watch helplessly. People should not be expected to kill themselves ever. Of course, if you tell someone they should kill themself like in the video I showed, you are saying that the persons life is no longer worth living. If it were worth living you wouldn't tell them to kill themself. Who are they to say whether someone else's life is worth living anyway? I don't understand how someone can feel incompetent as a result of not being allowed to have help killing themself, they'd definitely feel incompetent if they have help though as there are people who kill themselves without any help. Negative emotions lead to a weakened immune system [2]. This makes the body more vulnerable to illnesses including those which are terminal. Options can't control illness. Legalizing assisted death will no doubt cause more terminal illnesses. No-one can feel good about helping someone die, or receiving a time when a person can expect to die. A terminally ill patient may be visited more often in a shorter space of time, but any visitors will find it harder to be their self or enjoy the time they have with someone whose time of death they know. Would people use bereavement services after a terminally ill person's death? You mention that a terminally ill person is not the same person people once knew, and we should be sad when people can no longer do the things they used to do, but the truth is there are many things they can do which can bring a smile to their face like road trips, and maybe things they haven't done. They will only become unfamiliar if you tell them their life has no meaning or value because if they are depressed it is more difficult to overcome that. The fear of death will rise if terminally ill people can have help killing themself, as people will not be able to focus on enjoying their own life when they know the time and place someone close will die. What if a terminally ill person can't gulp the poisonous drink at the last moment? That would spread fear of death especially if you become terminally ill yourself. Having a date gives you time to fear death which you would normally not have to worry about. sources: [1] http://www.dignityindying.org.uk... [2] https://www.newscientist.com...