In 2006 Lord Rix, who was president of Mencap, voted against an assisted dying bill in the House of Lords. Now, aged 92, and terminally ill himself, he has changed his mind, and has called on the speaker of the House of Lords to open the debate again: “I can only ask that once again the House of Lords brings the UK up to date by allowing legal euthanasia after all other avenues have been pursued. Please raise the question again in the House of Lords so that people like me do not continue to suffer untold misery for want of a kind alternative.”
What changed his mind? “As a dying man, who has been dying now for several weeks, I am only too conscious that the laws of this country make it impossible for people like me to be helped on their way, even though the family is supportive of this position and everything that needs to be done has been dealt with. Unhappily, my body seems to be constructed in such a way that it keeps me alive in great discomfort when all I want is to be allowed to slip into a sleep, peacefully, legally and without any threat to the medical or nursing profession. I am sure there are many others like me who having finished with life wish their life to finish.”
His phrase referring to people like him “who having finished with life wish their life to finish” is a clear example of the MDMD description of a completed life.
