Lord Moylan
Main Page: Lord Moylan (Conservative - Life peer)
Lord Moylan (Con)
My Lords, I will be brief; I want to make only one point. I am slightly surprised to be making it, because I expected others to make it during this now quite lengthy debate, although it was hinted at by my noble friend Lord Harper and the noble Baroness, Lady Fox of Buckley. It is to do with public reaction.
Lord Markham (Con)
The main point here is that, by definition, you are eligible for assisted death only if you have been diagnosed to be within six months of the end of your life through a terminal illness. That is the reason that you are applying for an assisted death. That is motivation for doing it, because clearly it is not like those people want to die. We have talked to many people, and I am sure a lot of people have, and they desperately do not want to be in this situation.
Lord Moylan (Con)
I am very sorry to interrupt my noble friend, but even the sponsor of the Bill, the noble and learned Lord, has been very clear in saying that the six-month prognosis is a trigger that gives you admission to the process, if you like, but it does not have to be the reason, so it is not by definition the case that if you have the prognosis, that must be the reason. They are two quite different concepts.
Lord Markham (Con)
As I said, these are not people who want to die; they are people who absolutely want to live. The only reason they are entering into this process, and the only reason they would be eligible—