This is the final blog in a series published ahead of the Second Reading of the Assisted Dying Bill tomorrow.

The pro-euthanasia and assisted suicide lobby will often present the view that helping someone else to end their life is the most loving and compassionate thing to do. But surely the most compassionate thing to do is to care for a person at the end of their life and to show them that their life has tremendous value regardless of age or abilities.

Palliative care is an area of healthcare that focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients. Britain is the only country in the world where palliative care is a recognised medical specialism. Furthermore, in a recent survey by The Economist Britain was ranked first in the world for quality end-of-life care. The survey took in 40 OECD and non-OECD countries, including the USA, the Netherlands, Germany and France. The Government should continue to support this provision and ensure that the care people receive, whatever their diagnosis is compassionate, appropriate and good quality.

Human life should be celebrated whatever its condition. People’s lives should be valued by their internal worth, not by their state of health, their benefit to others, their financial implications or what they can contribute to society.

The French biologist and philosopher Jean Rostand once said: “For my part I believe that there is no life so degraded, debased, deteriorated, or impoverished that it does not deserve respect and is not worth defending with zeal and conviction.” Society must strive to embrace this same attitude.

To find out more on this issue, please see our Live and Let Live campaign.