‘If assisted dying was legal, I’d have missed precious time with family’

The 50-year-old relies on two different forms of morphine and a high-strength co-codamol to manage the pain. Some days “they don’t touch the sides”, leaving her barely able to move.

The pain is worst in her thigh, where she had a metal rod inserted after cancer rotted her femur.

Elise says the pain will only get worse as her body becomes more tolerant of painkillers – making them less effective.

“I’m not scared to die but I am scared of a bad death – a long, drawn-out, brutal, horrific death. That terrifies me.”

There has been particular concern among critics of the bill about how people who have been left vulnerable by life-threatening illness will be safeguarded.

Some believe the existence of assisted dying legislation could create an implicit pressure on terminally-ill people – even if no-one is actively trying to coerce them.

Nik describes this possibility as a “very subtle but very insistent background noise”.

He thinks people who may feel like a burden to their loved-ones might, for example, choose to “end their lives because they feel like they ought to for their children’s sake”.

“It’s the people that are most thoughtful, most considerate – they’re the very people that I’m worried about,” he adds.