YES Edward Turner, from West London, held his mother’s hand in her last moments, after she’d requested medical assistance to die. Edward, 42, a chartered accountant, is also director of the organisation Dignity in Dying (www.dignityindying.org.uk).

NO Alison Davis, 53, from Dorset, was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. She also has emphysema, and was diagnosed with osteoporosis ten years ago. Alison has been in a wheelchair since she was 14. She works full-time, writing and lecturing on medical ethics.

Edward says:

My father had a neurological disorder, Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), and over ten years wasted away to a living corpse. My mother, Dr Anne Turner, saw his decline in very real terms. But my father looked forward to every day. When my mother was diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) in 2004, another incurable neurological disease, it was a different story. She knew she’d end up trapped in her body. PSP also brings terrible depression. She said, “I want to take my life.”

My two sisters and I tried to talk her out of it. Even though my father’s death was worse for him, it was easier for us because we didn’t face the prospect of someone actively choosing to leave us. Your instinct wants this person to live as long as possible. We were in denial until our mother attempted suicide in 2005 by taking a cocktail of pills and putting a plastic bag over her head. It didn’t work, and the next day we contacted Dignitas, the Swiss charity where it’s legal to request medical assistance to die.

Once she had the provisional green light, my mother became so happy. At Dignitas, you have to be able to take the lethal dose yourself, and she was afraid she soon wouldn’t be well enough to travel. In January 2006, the four of us flew to Switzerland. My mother was going downhill rapidly and saw death as the end to her problems. The day before her 67th birthday, my mother drank the prescribed barbiturates. She fell into a coma, and was dead after 20 minutes.

It’s always too soon to lose people we love, but I’d seen how vital it was for my mother to have control. My only regret was she went sooner than necessary. If assisted dying was legal in the UK, she wouldn’t have had to die so soon.

As a society we believe there’s nothing worse than death. What we mean is there’s nothing worse than a bad death. The Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill went to the House of Lords in 2006 but was blocked.

We presume death is worse than life. But this is about recognising when the dying process starts and asking how do you want this death to be? The patient who is living through the illness should be the one to decide.

If you agree with Edward, vote YES now.

Alison says:

Nearly 20 years ago, I wanted to die. Doctors thought I didn’t have long left, and I had a lot of spinal pain. It was a wish that lasted ten years, and for the first five, I tried to end my life several times. The time I remember most was taking painkillers, cutting my wrists and drinking a bottle of Martini. As I was slipping into unconsciousness, a friend found me and called an ambulance. In hospital, I was treated against my will and was very angry with the doctors for saving me. Now I’m eternally grateful.

Two things made me realise life was worth living. My carer Colin came to me 19 years ago, and helped me understand my life had value. Then in 1995, I visited a disabled centre in India. That trip was life-changing. The children played with me and loved me, and I said to Colin, “I think I want to live.”

If euthanasia had been legal when I wanted to die, I would have requested it, and my request would have been accepted. If I had died, no one would have known the future held some good for me, and that the doctors were wrong to think I didn’t have long left.
I’m in constant pain – some days are worse than others. My spine is collapsing, and even morphine doesn’t always adequately control this. When the pain is at its worst, I can’t move, think or speak, and it’s getting worse. But now I see the value in life, and the value of suffering, and I’m not afraid of dying. People talk about dying with dignity, but it should be about living with dignity. Hastening the death of a terminally ill person is not a compassionate thing to do.

When a physically healthy person feels suicidal, they are given help to value their life again. But when a suffering person feels the same way, they are thought to be “better off dead”. What’s the difference? I’m a member of ALERT (Against Legalised Euthanasia: Research and Teaching) and do all I can to speak out against euthanasia. I would have missed some of the best years of my life if euthanasia had been legal when I wanted to die. What I need, and what all suffering people really need, is help to live until we die naturally.

If you agree with Alison, vote NO now.

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