The author, whose family has been impacted by dementia, says provision in living wills could clarify intentions when a person declines to the point they are ‘alive and dead all at once’
Legalised assisted dying should “gradually” be extended to dementia sufferers, the author Ian McEwan has said.
McEwan was “shocked by the snow-drilling attempts” by those opposed to the UK’s assisted dying bill, he told a public book event in London, citing its more than 1,000 amendments. MPs and peers backing the bill now believe it is “near impossible” for it to pass the House of Lords before the end of the session in May due to alleged filibustering.
If passed, the bill would legalise assisted dying in England and Wales for adults with less than six months to live. “We’re not asking much,” said McEwan, who is a patron of Dignity in Dying.
“I like it when some bishop says on the radio: ‘It’s the thin end of the wedge,’ and I think yes, it is the thin end of the wedge”, because certain groups are “missing from it”, such as those with dementia. “It has to be physical pain”.
