General Article Majority would support more compassionate euthanasia legislation

Topic Selected: Euthanasia
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The survey found that a large majority (75%) of the British population think that legislation on euthanasia should be amended to allow some degree of assisted suicide. Just over two-thirds (67%) think that doctors in particular should have the legal power to end the life of a terminally-ill patient who has personally given a clear indication of wanting to die.

Taken to trial

This comes as the Director of Public Prosecutions in the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, defended both the trial and recent acquittal of Kay Gilderdale, mother of the late Lynn Gilderdale. Lynn was a long-time sufferer of ME, and having had the chronic fatigue syndrome since the age of 14, she persuaded her mother to end her life out of compassion.

Starmer claimed that it was in the ‘public interest’ to bring the Gilderdale case to court, despite controversially declaring in September of last year that under certain circumstances, those assisting suicide will not be prosecuted. At the time, Starmer was heavily ...

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