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I don't believe Pratchett signed up for cryonics, but if he had, what good argument could there be for not letting him commit assisted suicide in the way that best prepared his body for cryopreservation, followed by immediate cryopreservation?
If medical science admittedly can't do anything for these people other than offering palliative care, it seems like from a sanctity of human life perspective, cryopreservation under optimal conditions at least offers a chance to preserve the life that assisted suicide opponents hold to be so sacred. Maybe rather than repealing laws against assisted suicide, we could work towards getting exemptions for cryopreservation?
Would be bad for cryonics. Assisted suicide opponents would scream "Cryonics gives people false hope so they can kill themselves!". People with bad but solvable problems would be more likely to choose suicide + cryo, as opposed to solving their problems (also as opposed to regular suicide, so it's unsure which is sadder - but the opposition would see the extra expected deaths more than the prevented ones).
At the very least, opposition to assisted suicide + cryo for the terminally ill seems like it would be very hard to defend.
I don't know what you mean by "defend," but I think people would find it very easy to take that position.
But then assisted suicide proponents could scream "See, it's doesn't have to actually be suicide. It can be turned into a futuristic medical treatment.". Also, it's possible that attitudes toward assisted suicide and potential attitudes towards cryonics are correlated -- people who are strongly against assisted suicide would oppose cryonics anyway so associating the concepts wouldn't hurt cryonics that much.
Besides, there's always the option of arranging cryosuspension discreetly and avoid any PR implications. Or isn't that feasible at all?
Okay if it involves brain degenerescence, but for most diseases, assisted suicide + cryo makes survival less likely than hanging on as long as possible + cryo. Also, there's a slippery slope from Alzheimer's patients getting frozen before their brain melts away, to terminal cancer patients getting frozen sooner than they absolutely must, to depressed patients getting frozen en masse rather than attempt treatment. Cryonics is the second-worst thing that can happen to you.
Black swan. If anybody finds out, there'll be a huge scandal.
None that I know of; I'd fully support that, particularly considering he has Alzheimer's. Best to preserve a brain while it's still relatively intact rather than waiting for a natural death at which point it would have deteriorated much further.
To the best of my knowledge, countries which allow assisted suicide frown upon cryopreservation, and vice-versa. Many places also require autopsies for suicides; I'm not sure whether that applies to the assisted ones.