Bad medicine and bad law

Using a systematic approach covering virtue ethics, deontology and a brief overview of other ethical and moral considerations, we present a balanced consideration of the assisted dying bill currently being considered in the UK parliament.On the one hand, the bill reflects a powerful commitment to personal autonomy. Unfortunately, all signs of the present listening of the bill would suggest that the answer is that the bill is not virtuous and may undermine the manner in which we treat the most vulnerable with compassion.Conclusions: It is a simple truth that the above utopia does not exist and would require many years of societal uplift of all; adequate support to illness benefits, universal housing, support of drug and addiction groups, universal specialist palliative care and more. Without these measures and considering the ethical and moral considerations outlined above, it is unlikely that UK society will be able to support assisted dying in its current form without the consequences of widespread premature death of people whose choices are adversely affected by societal pressures, coercion, poverty and unmet medical or symptom management needs that are nonetheless possible to meet under the provision of universal standards of living that have not been met by the current status quo.