I do not disagree with Gordon Brown that palliative care should be better funded, but to present palliative care as the alternative to assisted dying is to present a false equivalence, since the principles behind the two are quite different (MPs have personal beliefs, but also solemn duties: that’s why they must reject the assisted dying bill this week, 16 June).
The principle behind the entitlement to good palliative care is that one should be entitled to good medical care – in this instance, as death approaches. The principle behind the right to an assisted death is that one should be entitled to determine the time and manner of one’s passing.
