'We treat dogs better' Readers share their views on assisted dying and the law

Keir Starmer has said he backed calls for a change in assisted dying laws and as prime minister, he would allow MPs a free vote on the issue.

- Jem Bartholomew

The Labour leader, was speaking after the broadcaster Esther Rantzen, who has stage four cancer, this week revealed she was considering ending her life in Switzerland.

There are laws allowing assisted dying for terminally ill people in countries such as Switzerland, Canada and the Netherlands, and in 11 US states. But people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland can face prosecution - and up to 14 years in prison - for assisting someone to end their own life.

Hundreds of people got in touch with the Guardian to share their views on assisted dying. Here, three people on different sides of the debate explain their views.

'To see your loved one die horribly is not something you can unsee'

Warwick Jackson, a 63-year-old based in Shropshire, was together with his wife, Ann, for 37 years.

They met in 1983; Ann was a Black Country girl who was "cool and calm", and "everyone loved her company", Jackson said.

The couple were out walking at Christmas in 2018 when Ann became short of breath. She blamed it on her fitness but was later diagnosed with peritoneal cancer and underwent two rounds of chemotherapy. It held cancer back, but Ann's lungs would fill up with fluid, which Jackson remembers as akin to suffocating or drowning, like "the breath was being squeezed out of her".