The United Kingdom Supreme Court has this week nicely set the stage for a battle royal over the so-called “right to die” when a new Assisted Dying Bill is debated in three weeks’ time. The court said that the choices raised by the appeals before them were more appropriate for Parliament, as they involved moral rather than legal judgements which ought to reflect public opinion. The bill has been introduced into the Lords by Lord Falconer, a former Lord Chancellor, and proposes very tight conditions under which, without rendering themselves liable for prosecution, doctors may supply terminally ill patients with drugs intended to kill them. The argument behind it is that the European Court of Human Rights has interpreted Article 8.1 of the convention on human rights, the ri
26 June 2014, The Tablet
Personal autonomy is not the only issue
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