Today is World Suicide Prevention Day — a global reminder that every life matters, and that those in despair deserve to be given hope, help and care.
And yet, in just two days' time, Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill will have its second reading in the House of Lords. This Private Members’ bill would legalise assisted suicide in England and Wales. What message does this send to suicidal people? One day we say, “Don’t give up,” and the next we consider legislation to allow the NHS to give people drugs to help them end their lives.
This grim contradiction sits at the heart of the assisted suicide debate. Should we prevent suicide for everyone, or promote it for the most sick and vulnerable?
Euthanasia debate: Autonomy at all costs?
The founder of the International Association for the Philosophy of Death and Dying has recently written on what he calls …