This week, the respected BBC Panorama programme looks into the vexed question of whether or not an individual should have a legally sanctioned right to choose the moment of their death.
The programme will look in particular at the experience and views of Margo MacDonald, a Scottish politician who has a personal interest in assisted dying.
Ms MacDonald is described by the BBC as 'one of Scotland's most popular public figures - a firebrand, independent politician and forthright media commentator.'
Sadly, this gifted woman has Parkinson's disease, a degenerative condition of the brain, and she would like to be given the right to choose the time and place in which she dies.
In a BBC interview on Tuesday, Ms MacDonald talked openly about a visit to the Netherlands where, she said, people who'd requested help to die were treated humanely and were able to change their minds right up to the last minute.
Current assisted dying bills in countries like the Netherlands incorporate a "duty of care" clause. Doctors must be sure, they say, that a patient's request is voluntary and "well considered" and that the patient is suffering in an unbearable way, with no prospect of future improvement.
This sounds all very humane. Yet, if we look a little deeper, we find some very real moral and social time bombs waiting to explode.
For one thing, such laws are filled with terms that can be interpreted very subjectively. For example, how do we define "unbearable" suffering? How do we know when that limit's been reached? Surely, what one person will call "unbearable" another may call tolerable, at least for a while.
These laws also stipulate that there must be "no other reasonable solution" aside from death; but on what criteria is that decision based?
Palliative care is available in many cases, to ease or at least manage the pain. And who can judge whether a person's request to die is "well considered"? How can anyone possibly tell whether or not another human being is ready to die, or that they may not change their mind later if given the chance?
I do not wish for a moment to try to minimize the suffering undergone by many people, whether it is physical, emotional and psychological. In the developed world, we have seen remarkable leaps forward in the management of pain and in some cases cures for debilitating conditions may not be far away. However, this is of little comfort to those who suffer right now.
Yet there are thousands of stories about people who've tried to end their lives and failed. They've gone on to lead very fulfilling and significant lives, often serving their fellow human beings with a renewed sense of destiny and even vocation.
Looking back, they've expressed relief that their attempt to die didn't succeed.
In the same way, people who may feel like dying today may go on to find new purpose in life and in the process change the world for others. They should not be denied that opportunity.
Of course, part of the problem is that we're all living longer. Whilst life expectancies are generally on the rise in the developed world, the emotional or psychological quality of a longer life may not be increasing.
