English law on assisted suicide needs updating, commission hears

The current law in England on assisted suicide is not fit for the 21st century, the lead on dementia and end of life care for West Midlands strategic health authority has told the Commission on Assisted Dying.

Pauline Smith said the health authority could be neither for nor against assisted dying but it was responsible for representing the public voice and needed to make sure that voice was heard. “Our view is that the current law doesn’t match the requirements of the 21st century,” she told the commission, chaired by former lord chancellor and Labour peer Charles Falconer.

“We really do need to look …