A yet-to-be-drawn private member's bill by Labour MP Maryan Street would legalise medically assisted death - a concept that divides opinion, reports Aaron van Delden
BEFORE Anne Mohrdieck developed fibromyalgia, she would have found the condition hard to believe.
Perhaps the sufferers were making it up or not taking suitable painkillers.
But now she knows there are ailments that don't respond well to analgesics, and people who can't tolerate them.
"Those, I strongly believe should have a right to die if they can't bear it any more," Ms Mohrdieck said. "I mean, what's the use of lying around and being miserable?"
Fibromyalgia is a medical disorder characterised by chronic widespread pain and a heightened and painful response to pressure.
Ms Mohrdieck developed the condition about five years ago, after what she thought was a shoulder injury failed to improve.
She said the pain suddenly intensified and began to spread.
It's now afflicted the 51-year-old's entire body.
"I was in support [of voluntary euthanasia] before, but of course I have this condition and I'm very clear that for me it doesn't only concern people with terminal illnesses but also people who are in pain."
Ms Mohrdieck said as result of acquiring fibromyalgia, her life had taken a U-turn.
"I was very active, and I could never have imagined a life without running around and being active," she said.
But constant pain now dictated what she could do.
"After lunch, I have a good rest and then, for example, bring in some kale from the garden, then lie down, dry the dishes, lie down.
"All I'm pretty certain about is that I have to work very hard on my psyche if I want it to improve, which that, of course, is much harder than ... taking pills. One day, it may become too much ... and then I would like the right to die."
Ms Mohrdieck said requirements stipulated in Labour MP Maryan Street's End of Life Choice Bill ensured legalised euthanasia would not be exploited.
The person making the request to die must be mentally competent, as attested by two independent medical practitioners, and must suffer from a terminal illness likely to cause death within 12 months, or from an irreversible physical or mental condition that, in the person's view, rendered their life unbearable.
The law would not apply to those under the age of 18, and the requester would need to consider the decision for seven days before it was confirmed.
"If you have the right to die, it's a completely different feeling than if you do something that is not legal," Ms Mohrdieck said. "It's different for me and it's different for the people around me. It is to die with dignity.
"Everyone has different abilities to cope with the suffering. If my ability does not allow me to have a quality of life in any way, and I choose a better option would be to go out ... then I'd be enraged if that possibility would be taken from me or wouldn't be given to me."
MARY Stewart says euthanasia is just a euphemism for hetero-homicide - getting someone to kill you.
After 30 years as a nurse, Mrs Stewart says it will confuse the role of health professionals, who swear an oath to heal and provide comfort.
The 52-year-old has now been caring for the residents of Virginia Lodge Rest Home for 13 years.
She said, in the course of her work, she had never seen anyone die an unpeaceful death, and that she would opt for a slow death if she had the choice, because she knew, having provided palliative care for so long, that she could rely on the availability of medications which would ease any suffering.
"Whether that be sedation - half-asleep, half-awake for the last two weeks of my life - it's still time to spend with family and organise a funeral," Mrs Stewart said.
Palliative care is about relieving pain and discomfort, rather than curing the disease or condition causing those symptoms. It is often provided to people who are terminally ill.
Mrs Stewart's opposition to legalised euthanasia relates to her experience as a nurse and the distress she felt after reading about a fatal car crash, where the victim was trapped in the damaged vehicle when it burst into flames.
"None of us can ever choose how we die.
"That poor young man never had a choice of whether he would live to be an old man.
"I think people that have got chronic illnesses and die of degenerative diseases ... at least know what's happening to them, are able to at least request decent palliative care ... that poor boy had no choice.
"Why should an 80 or 90-year-old say 'I've had enough now'? It just doesn't seem fair. Talk to a 17 or 18-year-old who's got cancer, see whether they can change their lot, because you can't change your lot."
While safeguards against the misuse of euthanasia may work on an individual basis, Mrs Stewart is worried about the proposed law's wider implication.
"The more people avail themselves of physician-assisted suicide - of hetero-homicide - the more people that do, the less resources will be put into palliative care."
This, in turn, would see even more people seek euthanasia, because there would end up being no other option, she said.