Key question: Can we be sure assisted dying is not the start of a ‘slippery slope’?

Fears of a slippery slope are not backed up by evidence. Where assisted dying is legal there have been no cases of abuse and no widening of the law. Assisted deaths in Oregon account for just 0.4% of deaths.

Belgium and the Netherlands are sometimes cited as examples of the ‘slippery slope’. But these jurisdictions have always had much broader laws than the one we campaign for.

The current law contains no safeguards to protect dying people who want to control their death. An assisted dying law would protect against a ‘slippery slope’, not encourage one.