Viddler

Really difficult issue, but excellent coverage and its good the public are treated seriously in the vox pops. The students are really good. I think the Doctor's point about the state stepping in, being problematic is key as we all know that when someone we know is dying in a terrible state you'd do what ever it takes to deal with that and end their pain. That's an informal personal arrangement based on trust but taking the litigeous route, handing over responsibility to UK litigators will rob us of that and belittles our humanity-what we would ordinarily do to help our family and friends.

It seems obvious from this that the public should be trusted more to make up their own minds and make their own decisions. Any state involvement seems a bit arbitrary and clumsy.

Wow, a very different discussion to the black and white ones I've seen on the news recently. I agree, people are far more capable than Debbie Purdy or anyone else would have us believe, in making the decision themselves. We don't need a government go ahead to tell us that when we see our loved one in immeasurable misery, it's okay to pull the plug (or not).

I think the question of euthanasia has been so difficult to a large extent because nobody wants to take responsibility and feel guilty for taking someone's life - be it the government or a nurse. this is how we have been brought up - not to kill. However, let's detach from egotistical own views and think about those who are in real hopeless suffering and pain. If that is the person's choice - so be it. Totally for legalisation!

I can see why people who want the choice to die when they want don't want to leave their loved ones in the lurch and facing prosecution. However, going down the legal road i don't think helps, we want less interference from the government in what are essentially very personal decisions, and as usual these guidelines have just added to the confusion about who has the right to die anyway. More worrying is that this is probably the first time in history that fighting for people's right to die is seen as human progress! And what happens if someone says "but i want to die, my life is a waste, i want the legal right to die" what do we do then, let the choice be theirs? The argument for assisted suicide is deeply misanthropic - let's leave dying alone and get on with making sure all of us who are alive get a great and long life.

I think I agree with Vivien, the discussion on assisted dying is overall a misanthropic one. Hello Vivien!

The matter is a difficult one, no doubt. There is a thin line to walk, and a lot of care needed not to cross it. I think it is everyone's own decision what to do with one's life - how one lives it, and when it should end. Does this change values? Well, to be honest, I doubt people in those situations care about the values of humanity as a whole - they care about what is left of -their- life. However, regulation allowing assisted dying leaves room for exploitation and misuse. Still, just because it is difficult to find the correct way to form the law, it should not be given up on. More discussions are needed to define how to minimize the risks but in the end, it should become legal.

I really enjoyed this very difficult debate. To have the kids debating this matter and the general public's views of assisted dying shows both sides of the coin and was very well done.

Legalising assisted suicide has a potential of creating a number of problems in regards to the relationships between carers, their patients and the state. Legalising assisted suicide or rather, making doctors perform two (contradictory) roles, being both carers and 'executioners' (for lack of a better word) is likely to create public distrust in health care professionals. In any case giving the state, especially one that is struggling to fund its healthcare system, the power to take lives in the manner suggested by supporters of assisted suicide, is very dangerous............