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12/05/2006
Lords clash on 'right-to-die' legislation
Peers are divided over a controversial bill to legalise assisted dying.
The bill, introduced by crossbencher Lord Joffe, would allow terminally ill people with less than six months to live, to be prescribed drugs to take their own life.
Lord Joffe said that patients should not have to endure unbearable pain "for the good of society as a whole".
Around 90 peers are expected to speak in the debate over the bill, which begins its second reading in the House of Lords today.
However, the bill has faced widespread opposition, with opponents claiming that it could be open to abuse and put pressure on the terminally ill to end their lives prematurely.
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams is among those against the bill. In a joint letter to 'The Times' with Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, he said: "Such a bill cannot guarantee that a right to die would not, for society's most vulnerable, become a duty to die."
Opponents of the legislation were also due to hand a petition, signed by more than 100,000 people, to 10 Downing Street and a protest was due to take place in Parliament Square.
However, a new poll has found that just over three-quarters of people were in favour of assisted dying. A YouGov survey for the Dignity in Dying Group found that 59% of those questioned thought that there was good care for people in the later stages of a terminal illness, while 76% were in favour of assisted dying as long as there were safeguards in place.
Deborah Annetts, the Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying, said: "It is clear that the public truly appreciates the scope of the problem.
"Even with the high quality of our palliative care, some people still want this option."
(KMcA)
The bill, introduced by crossbencher Lord Joffe, would allow terminally ill people with less than six months to live, to be prescribed drugs to take their own life.
Lord Joffe said that patients should not have to endure unbearable pain "for the good of society as a whole".
Around 90 peers are expected to speak in the debate over the bill, which begins its second reading in the House of Lords today.
However, the bill has faced widespread opposition, with opponents claiming that it could be open to abuse and put pressure on the terminally ill to end their lives prematurely.
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams is among those against the bill. In a joint letter to 'The Times' with Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, he said: "Such a bill cannot guarantee that a right to die would not, for society's most vulnerable, become a duty to die."
Opponents of the legislation were also due to hand a petition, signed by more than 100,000 people, to 10 Downing Street and a protest was due to take place in Parliament Square.
However, a new poll has found that just over three-quarters of people were in favour of assisted dying. A YouGov survey for the Dignity in Dying Group found that 59% of those questioned thought that there was good care for people in the later stages of a terminal illness, while 76% were in favour of assisted dying as long as there were safeguards in place.
Deborah Annetts, the Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying, said: "It is clear that the public truly appreciates the scope of the problem.
"Even with the high quality of our palliative care, some people still want this option."
(KMcA)
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Peer To Table Assisted Dying Bill
A bill to legalise physician-assisted suicide for people who are terminally ill and mentally capable is to be tabled by Labour peer Lord Falconer. It is understood that only those aged 18 and over, and under "strictly defined circumstances", would be considered eligible under the bill.
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CPI Rises To 2.8%
In February the UK’s consumer price inflation (CPI) rose to 2.8%, thought to be the result of rising energy prices, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. The Bank of England's inflation target for the CPI is 2%. Before February, CPI inflation had been 2.7% for four months in a row.
CPI Rises To 2.8%
In February the UK’s consumer price inflation (CPI) rose to 2.8%, thought to be the result of rising energy prices, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. The Bank of England's inflation target for the CPI is 2%. Before February, CPI inflation had been 2.7% for four months in a row.
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