Daily Mirror

‘Rush hour’ pest admits sex assaults

75% of Brits back change in euthanasia law for terminally ill A comfortabl­e death is cruelly denied to many Cases would be assessed by 2 doctors and judge under plan

- BY TOM PETTIFOR Chief Crime Correspond­ent BY RUSSELL MYERS Chief Investigat­ive Reporter russell.myers@mirror.co.uk VOICE OF THE MIRROR: PAGE 8

PREDATOR Kevin Bond, 51 of 55-64-year-olds support the proposed law of Conservati­ve voters would oppose a change in the law against 11% of Labour voters of those aged 65+ would not want the choice to end their own life if diagnosed with a terminal illness against 77% of all adults who would have known somebody die who would have considered assisted death if it were legal

THE NETHERLAND­S, BELGIUM and LUXEMBOURG permit euthanasia and assisted suicide. SWITZERLAN­D permits assisted suicide ‘if the person assisting acts unselfishl­y’. COLOMBIA permits euthanasia. CALIFORNIA, OREGON, WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON DC, VERMONT, HAWAII, COLORADO and MONTANA permit assisted dying. CANADA allows euthanasia and assisted suicide. The state of VICTORIA in Australia allows assisted suicide

AS a country, we are not good at talking about death. It makes us feel awkward, sad and uncomforta­ble.

But we all have our own image for how we want to go when the time comes – peacefully, in comfort, maybe surrounded by family and friends.

For too many people, this is something cruelly denied them.

How can it be compassion­ate to keep terminally ill people alive in agony when they’ve expressed a clear wish to leave this world?

How can it be right that some patients feel so desperate as to try to stockpile drugs ordered from the internet to try and end their life? How can it be fair that some people with access to money can fly to Switzerlan­d and be able to have an assisted death while others without means must struggle on at home? While we work to

give people a good life, we should also be determined that everybody has a good death too.

That’s why those who are terminally ill and close to the end of life should be given the choice of dying with dignity.

States from America to Australia have introduced such a law, which offers strong safeguards.

There is no way that those who are depressed or fear being a burden would be able to take advantage of it, nor would it be available to those who weren’t already judged to be approachin­g the end of life. We know the public supports such a law, it’s time for the politician­s now to act.

THREE out of four Britons would support a law change to allow assisted dying, a Mirror poll has found.

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 ??  ?? A YEAR TO LIVE Terminally ill Noel Conway wants choice
A YEAR TO LIVE Terminally ill Noel Conway wants choice

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