Dame Esther Rantzen has expressed her surprise at still being alive as MPs prepare to debate the Assisted Dying bill. The journalist and TV presenter, who has terminal lung cancer, is backing the bill, which will be discussed in the House of Commons today.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, she told host Paul Brand: "What is happening at the moment is compelling people to have really agonising deaths.
Someone in agony, with pain - no palliative care can ease - becomes a terribly terribly tragic memory. Overwhelms other happier memories.
The law at the moment is a mess, and it's cruel. You'll remember that Sir Keir Starmer said to me that he hoped I would be able to see the debate, but I never thought that was possible." The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, led by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, would allow certain individuals to have a medically-assisted death, provided two doctors and a High Court judge agree they are eligible.
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