Assisted dying bill

This is my first requested blog on a subject of current affairs. The request is to sum up the for and against arguments presented in the House of Lords today on the Assisted Dying Bill.
Those who are for the bill seem to argue that safeguards are secure and that only people who are terminally ill will ever be affected by the bill should it become law. They argue that it is compassionate and they site tragic stories of people who have killed themselves alone and would have had their family with them if they hadn't been afraid that they might be blamed for helping them and get into trouble with the law. One peer's father in law was terminally ill so he cut off communication with the family and he and his wife suffocated themselves with drugs and plastic bags in a suicide pact without telling the children. One lady peer acknowledged the stories were sad but said you can't base a law on anecdotal evidence from people who have been affected. Other peers talked about those who would have asked for death if it wasn't against the law but then went on to get well. People said that evidence shows that in places where the law exists, only a tiny fraction of people have invoked it, they argued that knowing you can get help dying if you get really desperate, helps you feel less desperate - knowing there's a way out and taking it, are two very different things. The wording was questioned repeatedly, most agree that 'assisted dying' is actually 'assisted suicide' or 'mercy killing' and this goes against what doctors have signed up for which is to preserve life, not end it. The vast majority of health professionals are against the concept. Peers mentioned that the law on abortion was supposed to be watertight and nobody could abuse it because it legally requires two doctors to sign a certificate after having seen the patient. Everyone accepted that that rarely happens now and abortion on demand is currently very close to a reality in our country. Those against were worried that old and very ill patients who feel they are a burden on their families will feel obliged to ask for assistance to end their lives or will feel pressured to do so by their families. One man said if we saw a person standing on a bridge threatening to throw themselves off we would try and talk them out of it rather than just going over and pushing them off the bridge. The bill will receive a second reading and the House will probably be just as divided as they are now. Alas the House of Commons seem much more interested in election winning decisions than moral rectitude so they will probably choose whatever they think will earn the most votes.