Debate at Westminster on assisted dying petition

Surprisingly little coverage has been given to the Commons committee debate on assisted dying earlier this week. Euthanasia is illegal in Britain and the last attempt to change the law via a bill in the House of Lords failed in April. Afterwards, an e-petition seeking to legalise assisted dying garnered upwards of 100,000 signatures, taking it over the threshold for debate in Parliament.

Tonia Antoniazzi MP, a member of the Petitions Committee, opened the debate on Monday which can be watched in full (proceedings start ten minutes into the recording).

A thoughtful report on Sky News helps outline the issues. Anna Chaplains may often find themselves involved in end-of-life care. Despite the complexity of each individual person they support in such situations, I'm sure (writes Debbie Thrower) each chaplain does all they can to ensure individuals feel valued as they lend a listening ear.

Patients and their relatives and friends will have many varying points of view on this emotive subject. It is good to be as properly informed as we can be on the state of current public opinion, the opposing arguments in what is often a deeply polarised debate and to be aware of ways in which the law may change in the future. The news report reminded viewers that a YouGov poll showed a majority of the public (74%) in favour of a change in the law compared with a minority of MPs (35%) who agreed.