Four years ago, the Assisted Dying Bill was overwhelmingly defeated in parliament. The euthanasia debate hasn’t disappeared, however. One recent poll showed that 90 per cent of the UK’s population now support assisted dying for the terminally ill. So is a relaxation of the law inevitable? Would it represent progress? Or is it very dangerous? Our literary editor Sam Leith joined our associate editor Douglas Murray to discuss.
Sam: I find myself, possibly in accordance with my position as one of The Spectator’s hand-wringing liberals, in favour of assisted dying but I want to be clear on the narrowness of that position. The Assisted Dying Bill would not have allowed us to euthanise the incapable. Nor did it support assisted suicide for people not suffering from a terminal illness. Those discussions are part of a separate argument. The Bill essentially said that two doctors and a high court judge must agree that a person has less than six months to live and is of sound mind. At that point, assisted dying becomes an option. I think that is a very humane, reasonable position.
The fundamental reason why I am in favour is a pretty solid, almost conservative position. Most of the foundations of our common law and the freedoms we enjoy are to do with the idea that your body is your own. It follows that it shouldn’t be the business of the state to tell you what you can and can’t do with it. If you are in a position where you, for good and intelligible reasons, want to control the circumstances of your death, you should be entitled to. I would feel it was a bloody cheek if I wanted to die and the state told me it was their business, not mine.
Douglas: Let me start by disagreeing with the idea that your body is your own.
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