I would like to congratulate the Liberal Democrats for being the first political party to address the issue of assisted dying for the terminally ill at their conference in Southport.
From the debate it is clear that despite legal prohibitions, evidence published in the Lancet suggests there are 18,000 medically assisted deaths in the UK each year, without regulation or oversight to protect either patients or medical staff.
Our law on medically assisted dying primarily the 1961 Suicide Act is over 40 years old. Since it was enacted, there have been huge advances in medical science, enabling people to live longer with debilitating illness.
The world has changed since these laws were introduced. Our law enforces many terminally ill patients to suffer unbearably during their last days or forces them to take an arduous trip overseas to seek assistance to die. Liberal Democrats along with 80 per cent of the public recognise the law in does not work I hope my MP will too.
S Squires
Town and district councillor
Trowbridge
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