What is the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill?

Lord Joffe's new Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill had its first reading in the Lords on 9 November 2005. This is the third 'assisted dying' bill tabled in the Lords in as many years. If passed it will enable 'an adult who has capacity and who is suffering unbearably as a result of a terminal illness to receive medical assistance to die at his own considered and persistent request'. Put simply it seeks to legalise physician assisted suicide (PAS), along the lines of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act.

The introduction of this new Bill follows the debate on Lord Joffe's previous bill of the same name, which was examined in depth by a House of Lords Select Committee. The Select Committee reported in April 2005 and their report was the subject of a nine-hour debate in the House of Lords on 10 October.....