Member

What I have learned from the debate is that there is a divide. There are confident people, who are confident that they can make their own decisions, that they will be in charge of events and that they can choose their own end, exercising their autonomy at a time that is suitable for them. Those of us on the other side want to give a voice to, we would say, the great mass of people, who—if not necessarily quivering wrecks when they go to their doctor but, as my noble friend Lord Deben said—are frightened of the doctor, have some awe of the doctor, tend to give what might be excessive respect to what the doctor says and find themselves being driven in a certain direction and not necessarily the one they would autonomously choose.