Last week the law lords ruled that the director of public prosecution has to clarify whether people travelling over-seas to assist a loved one commit suicide would be prosecuted upon their return to the country. More than 100 Britons have travelled abroad to end their lives, with no cases to date being brought against those who journeyed with them to be there in their final hours.

Two weeks ago, the Royal College of Nurses declared they were no longer opposed to assisted suicide. They did not go as far as supporting it, but announced that they were now “neutral” on the issue of taking one’s own life. However, it represented the softening of a policy held for the last five years.

And three weeks ago, composer Sir Edward Downes and his wife Joan took their own lives in Switzerland. Their children released a statement saying that “After 54 happy years together, they decided to end their own lives rather than continue to struggle with serious health problems.” I have yet to come across any negative press of this case in the mainstream media.

None of the above examples suggest we are coming close to a change in policy in regards to the legality of assisted suicide in this country any time soon. However it represents a fundamental shift in attitude towards this most emotive and contentious of issues.

The ending of a life can be a tragic occasion. Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind¹. The enraged polarisation that the topic of suicide elicits is understandable; few things are more personal than ones own mortality. However the arguments seem to break down to three main categories- those who object on religious grounds; those who object from a “permanent solution to a short term problem” point of view; and those who view it as a compassionate, yet final option of a desperate human.

In case you haven’t guessed yet, I’m firmly in the last group.

I have nothing to say to those who think we should avoid taking our lives for fear we insult a deity who, after spending all this time setting up a perfectly lovely playground for us to frolic in, would understandably be kind of miffed when we go and throw it back in his face by spitefully topping ourselves. I’m afraid we have rather more fundamental differences than our beliefs regarding suicide. My mother still remembers the shame the Catholic Church piled upon the families of those who killed themselves, who were often denied a church funeral and were discretely buried along with the unbaptised babies on the outskirts of the graveyard.

To my eyes it is the second argument which carries the most weight. Often put forth by those who have survived a suicide attempt, “this too shall pass” is a powerful message for living ones life with the hope of a better tomorrow. However, I do not think anyone can argue this point when it comes to a terminal illness. When ones quality of life has been degraded beyond recognition by the ravages of disease, or the tragedy of an accident; when there is no hope for a cure or relief, when thing can literally only get worse, how can we honestly tell someone that they shouldn’t have the right to end their life if they so choose? Historically, our society has taken it upon themselves to decide that people should not take final control over their own lives. Everyone has a right to life, but no one has a right to death it seems.

This is obviously not an issue that should be taken lightly. The aim is not to make assisted suicide a thing of no consequence. It is also not to put in place a system where the elderly or sick feel obliged to kill themselves when they become too much of a burden to care for. But if someone has decided they can no longer fight, then who are we to deny them a comfortable end, surrounded by their loved ones? Surely the least we can hope for from life is the right to a good death?

The director of public prosecution is expected to announce in September if loved ones who travel abroad to such organizations as Dignitas can expect to be met with legal action upon their return to the UK. Considering the lack of such action in the past, it would be surprising to see it enforced now. A decision that prosecution will not be sought would change completely this countries “official” view on assisted suicide, and surely open up the debate for when people will be able to seek such help in their own country rather than having to travel abroad.

Terry Pratchett, who announced in 2007 that he was suffering with early onset Alzheimer’s, phrased it beautifully in an article last Sunday:

I live in hope – hope that before the disease in my brain finally wipes it clean, I can jump before I am pushed and drag my evil Nemesis to its doom… such thinking bestows a wonderful feeling of power; the enemy might win but it won’t triumph.

Who could not respect such a dignified wish?

¹John Donne (1623), Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, XVII

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