Member

Finally, the key reason for this is that it preserves the idea of autonomy. Initially, one of the key principles of the Bill was to deal with the situation of pain and suffering, and there have been well-rehearsed arguments about why that has disappeared completely from it. For the proponents of the Bill, the key argument, the golden thread that has run through it, is the autonomy of the individual. If we are genuinely to respect the autonomy of the individual, the initiation of any process of assisted death has to come from that person. That is not simply protection against coercion: it is to ensure that it is not initiated or suggested by others. I look forward to the response of the Bill’s sponsor in relation to this, perhaps more in hope than expectation, given some of the responses, but I look forward to the rest of the debate.