Assisted dying is not a sandwich

I have an essay up at Unherd, offering some reflections on the UK's proposed assisted dying legislation.

But what all sides agree on, at least officially, is that they are against what we might call Death-on-Demand. This is the kind of scenario caricatured in the TV series Futurama: in the year 3000 there are “Suicide Booths” on every street, operating under the brand Stop’n’Drop. Customers can exit this mortal realm for a mere 25 cents, opting for either “Quick and painless” or “Slow and horrible”. What Futurama satirises, of course, is a hyper-liberal attitude to assisted dying, one where suicide becomes just another consumer choice, no different from walking off the street and buying a sandwich. And nobody wants that. Right?

Well for a couple of years, I did.

Please head over there to read the whole thing if you're interested. If you want to discuss any of the issues raised, please do so in the comments instead. The Unherd comment threads are frankly deranged, and I won't be looking at what gets screamed at me over there.