Almost 1,700 health care professionals signed a letter to the UK’s Health Secretary Sajid Javid to voice their opposition against a new law legalising assisted suicide, a campaign group said on Wednesday. An open letter with 1,689 signatories, including current and retired doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and medical students, said “the shift from preserving life to taking life is enormous and should not be minimised.” The signatories said they would not take patients’ lives, and called on the government to not change the law. The Assisted Dying Bill, which would allow terminally ill adults to legally seek assistance to end their lives, will have its second reading in Parliament on Friday. If passed, it will enable adults who are of sound mind and are expected to have six months or less to live to be provided with life-ending medication with the approval of two doctors and a High Court judge. Supporters say it …