Andrew Lloyd Webber Endorses UK Assisted Dying Bill

World renowned composer Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber candidly discussed his serious consideration of suicide following major surgery last year in a recent interview and now has moved to endorse the UK Assisted Dying Bill.

Lloyd Webber released the following statement this weekend following a debate on the issue in the House of Lords, "I have listened closely to the excellent debate in the House of Lords yesterday and am persuaded that the Assisted Dying Bill should move forwards. The House of Lords clearly will be able to discuss and hopefully allay many of my concerns."

Read the original statement on his official website here.

Following drastic surgery to remove cancer last year, Lloyd Webber related that he found himself nearly out of options at the time and researched the Swiss assisted suicide organization Dignitas.

"There were days when I thought that I would do anything to get out of this. I adore my work, and I thought that if I could not do that, then I had nothing more. I went through a moment of deep depression - that awful moment when you think that you must find a way out. I actually got the forms for Dignitas," Lloyd Webber stated.

In retrospect, Lloyd Webber said, "With hindsight, it was stupid and ridiculous, but I couldn't think what to do."

He remembered, "I got through the show I was working on, but it was murder. I was on every sort of painkiller there is... I couldn't think what to do. In the end, I threw away the forms."

Furthermore, as for the vote set to decide if the UK will consider allowing assisted suicide, Lloyd Webber - a member of the House of Lords - opined of the issue, "If people get to a point where their lives are so impossible, I would agree with the Bill. What concerns me, and I suspect many others, is what floodgates would [this measure] open? Does it create a culture where older people are a burden? In 20 years' time, signing off on the deaths of old people might not be taken as seriously as it is now. I am totally unsure."

Check out the original article on the matter here.