“To claim that this is a death that is peaceful, well, it can be nothing else because now a person is unable to move in any way, but whether or not they have any conscious experience of what is happening is unknown”.
That was leading assisted suicide opponent Danny Kruger quoting Dr Joel Zivot, Associate Professor of Anaesthesiology and Surgery at the Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, who emphasises that assisted suicide drugs are anything but ‘safe’ and ‘pain-free’.
During the Committee’s ninth day of scrutiny for Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill, Mr Kruger reiterated a key unanswered question: If a patient experiences side-effects after taking assisted suicide drugs, should the doctor allow the patient to suffer, should they provide euthanasia, or should they revive them?
Although Leadbeater rejected attempts to introduce euthanasia by the back door, she only agreed that complications should be recorded and a code of practice should be introduced if the Bill becomes law. Dr Simon Opher was adamant that doctors should “not try to revive” ‘dying patients’, and Amendment 464 to revive patients in case of complications was rejected by 15 to 6 votes.
Naz Shah was unequivocal that the drugs “will cause pain and distress to some people who take them”, and “we do not have the evidence to be able to say what the probability of having a reasonably swift and painless death is”.
.@NazShahBfd is unequivocal that “we do not have the evidence to be able to say what the probability of having a reasonably swift & painless death is”.
She says we know assisted suicide drugs will cause pain, distress & prolonged deaths in some cases. pic.twitter.com/NQbqXer3hL
— The Christian Institute (@christianorguk) March 18, 2025
The Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock, claimed that requiring such drugs to be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency would cause operational difficulties, and Leadbeater said the issue should be left to the Secretary of State.
Proxy
Mr Kruger also raised concern that the Committee is steamrolling ahead with scrutiny, and handing off responsibility to future Government action.
As the Bill stands, he warned that “literally anybody” could sign a patient’s declaration because they only need to claim they are unable to sign it themselves. Although the proxy would be required to explain why the patient can’t sign their own name, he noted this is nothing compared to the thorough checks required to make a power of attorney.
There is no restriction in the Bill on who can have a proxy sign assisted suicide forms on their behalf – a patient would just need to state they can’t sign their own name. @danny__kruger pic.twitter.com/vTJ6dLaDe9
— The Christian Institute (@christianorguk) March 18, 2025
But despite the risk of coercion, Leadbeater claimed that the Committee cannot be overly prescriptive on such matters and recommended that the issue be considered after consultation by a Minister of State.
Conscience
Rebecca Paul highlighted the number of medics unwilling to participate in assisted suicide, citing evidence that 43 per cent of Association of Palliative Medicine members said they would have to leave if their organisation implemented it.
But critics warned that the Bill’s conscience clause fails to cover some of those involved in the process who do not administer the drugs, such as social workers, even though they would be part of the expert panel assessing applications.
Without institutions being able to opt-out, Mrs Paul also warned that hospices may be forced to close if providing assisted suicide was conditional on NHS funding.
. @Rebecca_SPaul quotes written evidence from St. Gemma’s Hospice: “If compliance with AD provision becomes a condition for NHS funding, institutions like St. Gemma’s may have no alternative but to cease operations entirely given its reliance on NHS funding” (1/3) pic.twitter.com/DO5ZC95ITo
— The Christian Institute (@christianorguk) March 18, 2025
Although the Committee did not get to voting on conscience issues, Leadbeater indicated that she would work with Mr Kruger to protect a wider range of medical professionals, but not institutions such as care homes.
The Committee is holding the tenth day of scrutiny today.
Dr Joel Zivot spoke to The Christian Institute’s Ciarán Kelly in October 2021, outlining that assisted suicide is ‘neither painless nor dignified’.
