The importance of language
Bill supporters really don’t like the S-word. Kit Malthouse interrupted Rebecca Paul to criticise her use of the term ‘suicide’. He isn’t the first to do this, it has been an ongoing tactic as this clip from Second Reading shows:
Danny Kruger MP debunks claims that Kim Leadbeater’s Bill is not about #assistedsuicide pic.twitter.com/vbqyiO2hEV
— The Christian Institute (@christianorguk) November 29, 2024
Astonishingly, in this case Malthouse argued that ‘suicide is only suicide if it involves a healthy person taking their life’.
But Rebecca Paul called out Committee members for being “squeamish” about the use of the word ‘suicide’, given that the Bill would, in fact, amend the 1961 Suicide Act. She said: “I talk of suicide because we’re talking about the Suicide Act. I can’t do this role without… naming the actual bit of legislation we’re talking about”.
Later, Rachel Hopkins claimed that ‘assisted suicide’ and ‘assisted death’ are two separate things – a claim Danny Kruger called “completely arbitrary”.
Even the mildest improvements are being rejected
MPs are concerned that the requirement to ensure a person has not been ‘coerced’ or ‘pressured’ into the decision is not sufficient to capture more subtle forms of influence and manipulation. But amendments requiring clinicians to consider whether there has been ‘undue influence’ or whether a person has been ‘encouraged’ to end their life were rejected by 15 votes to eight.
Naz Shah spoke of her own experience of entering a forced marriage as a child to show how cultural factors could make it harder for women from ethnic minority backgrounds to know when they are being unduly influenced into an assisted suicide. She also referred to evidence from psychiatrist Professor Allan House, which explained how people in abusive relationships could be very vulnerable to this legislation.
It’s not just about pain
Money: Kim Leadbeater would not say if she would be content with someone choosing assisted suicide in order to save their family money despite being asked three times. She was also unwilling to admit that her Bill allows for this.
Feeling like a ‘burden’: Shaun Woodcock reported that in 35 per cent of cases in Western Australia people cited ‘feeling a burden’ as their reason for choosing assisted suicide, but that worryingly this was not picked up by doctors. An amendment to address this concern was voted down.
Feeling afraid: MPs claimed the Bill is not about tackling pain, but is about ‘control’ and ‘fear’. Danny Kruger explained that people have been led to believe this Bill is about the rarest of cases where people die in pain and can’t be helped by medicine.