Ms. Hart, who steered the group's campaign as a volunteer, says she had to explain to the girls how a bill with so much support could die so quietly.

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"However, those that did die are much younger than in seasonal flu so the years of life lost will be much more, " she told the BBC.

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So do the zero-growth, sustainable-growth, right-to-die, duty-to-die, life boat bio-ethicists who dominate so much of our intellectual discussion.

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"Iris" had lost so much weight from vomiting when she first came to the sanctuary that the staff thought she would die.

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