Rather than make it easier for people to die, make life a more attractive option

Amanda Ward of Friends at the End gives a glowing account of the working of the 1997 Death with Dignity Act in Oregon (Friends of the Scotsman, 18 December). What she doesn’t say is that the statistics show a more or less steady annual increase in deaths under the provisions of the Act and that the diagnoses were not confined to terminal illness. There were 133 deaths in 2016 and 78 per cent of these were due to cancer. The rest were diagnosed with more chronic, degenerative diseases. The statistics may well be incomplete because there is no statutory provision for monitoring the application of the law. A further point of interest is that only 33 per cent of patients cited concern about inadequate pain relief as a reason for requesting assisted suicide, while 90 per cent cited loss of autonomy and loss of ability to engage in enjoyable activities, and 65 per cent loss of dignity. This shows that existential concerns, rather than fear of uncontrollable pain, are major reasons for wanting assisted suicide. Yet uncontrollable pain is what is always stressed as the main reason by its advocates.

If people with chronic conditions which fall outside the terms of the Act are able to get lethal prescriptions, where are the “rigorous safeguards” Ms Ward mentions? The sixmonth life expectancy rule is a nonsense. Why not be honest and say if someone is fed up of their situation and can’t face living, they should qualify for assisted suicide?

Sadly, this incremental extension of the application of legislation for assisted suicide or euthanasia is what has happened in most countries and states which have such laws. It is virtually impossible to frame a law which prevents this.

Rather than wasting their time on debating such legislation yet again, I would much rather our parliamentarians make real progress in extending our world-leading palliative care services and improving our health and social services, which are under severe pressure.