UK Debating Assisted Dying Again

Assisted dying isn’t the same thing as euthanasia, although the two are often linked hand in hand. The practice of euthanasia is someone actively choosing to end someone else’s life for a particular reason. This could be because the person is terminally ill so another person puts the death into motion or it could be someone killing another person who has a disability or illness. In other words, the death is brought on by someone else’s hands and someone else’s decisions.

Assisted dying, on the other hand, is helping someone who has chosen to die – to die. In other words, assisted suicide. However, since suicide is technically illegal in most places, assisting in a suicide is also illegal. That’s why there’s been a push in many countries to allow people to assist someone who wants to die.

In the United Kingdom, this issue has come up again. Right now, in Britain, people have been going out of the country to die and those who are helping them leave the country are considered to be assisting them in dying. These “helpers” could be prosecuted (BBC: Assisted dying law to be debated).

Is prosecuting someone for helping a loved one leave the country to die where it is allowed going too far? After all, helping make arrangements to leave the country, from finding a place to go to arranging transport takes much more forethought and planning than helping someone commit suicide in their own home.

What do you think?

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Image: MorgueFile.com