ABSTRACT
For people with impairment or disability, one final – and major – area of concern remains, namely, that the increasing pressure in many countries to legalise assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia will add yet one more threat to their very right to exist. Before exploring these concerns, one fundamental point needs to be made. In what follows, we will not use the language of the ‘right’ to die. We have a certainty to die, we might have rights in respect of choosing to die, but we do not have a right to die. In other words, we believe that it is a mistake to couch the debate in terms of a right to die. Rather, the important issue is the right to choose. This has particular resonance, as choice is traditionally what is said to protect people from the unwarranted assumption of authority over their body. The ability to make choices, and to have those choices respected, is of fundamental importance to ensuring that we can live selfdirecting lives. That some people also wish to experience self-directed deaths is a matter of concern for many people both within and outwith the disability rights lobby. However, it is probably true to say that for the former group the concerns are both more urgent and more difficult to resolve.
