Author Archives: Alex Carlile

Lord Carlile writes…Examining the evidence on assisted suicide

By Alex Carlile | Thu 7th February 2013 - 1:41 pm

Simon Beard’s article on what he calls ‘the debate around legalising assisted dying’ is so replete with errors, half-truths and spin that it is difficult to know where to start with the correcting pen.

He refers to “the estimated 500 people who commit suicide each year due to a terminal or chronic illness”. The estimate he refers to was made in a report by Demos on the incidence of suicide among seriously ill people. This report does not state that 500 people commit suicide each year because they are terminally or chronically ill. It estimates that “approximately 10 per cent …