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‘Assisted suicide is the antidote to life’: Committee hears final arguments

Robby Fontanesi

“Healthcare is the antidote to sickness, whereas what we are proposing here with assisted suicide is the antidote to life.”

As the Committee finished scrutinising Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill, leading opponent Danny Kruger used these words to emphasise how removing end-of-life protections will always undermine the foundations of caring for the vulnerable.

NHS

Rebecca Paul criticised Leadbeater for contradicting the founding principles of the NHS by forcing it to provide assisted suicide under the Bill’s New Clause 36.

The MP quoted one palliative care doctor who warned that terminally ill patients’ trust in doctors would be “irreversibly” changed, if they knew a patient was being killed in the next bed.

As such, Mrs Paul warned that New Clause 36, which was passed by 14 votes to 8, “will forever change the relationship between doctor and patient, breed mistrust and fear, discourage vulnerable groups from seeking the healthcare they need, and fundamentally violate the Hippocratic oath.”

Mr Kruger also emphasised that the clause does not prevent private providers from seeking to make a profit by being contracted to carry out assisted suicides. He warned that despite a “naïve assumption” to the contrary, doctors are not immune to financial incentives.

Sean Woodcock highlighted the lack of accountability in the private sector, saying there have been “too many scandals in recent history”. He warned that public trust would “almost certainly fall” if assisted suicide were to be provided by private firms.

‘Marking its own homework’

Mr Kruger raised concern that changes to the Bill would allow an assisted suicide regime to effectively mark its own homework. A Voluntary Assisted Dying Commissioner would be responsible for reviewing the Act each year, even though they would be involved in implementing it.

Naz Shah highlighted that the police and schools have independent oversight, and in the cases of assisted suicide, mistakes could lead to the ‘wrong’ patient being given lethal drugs.

And in response to Rachael Maskell’s amendment that the Secretary of State should be required to conduct several regular reviews of the Act, instead of just after five years, Minister of State for Care Stephen Kinnock claimed this would “increase the administrative burden and cost of the Bill”.

General Election

In a sign of further chaos, Leadbeater conceded that it may be very difficult to implement the Bill within her original two year timeframe. After being reportedly told that extensive amendments have made this unworkable, the Committee agreed to extend the date at which the Bill would automatically come into force to four years.

But pro-assisted suicide MPs admitted that this could cause problems for the Bill, as it could become a General Election issue when the next one is due in four years’ time. Minister Stephen Kinnock stated that he would provide an update on the proposed implementation timeline ahead of Report Stage, so that MPs can consider whether to amend the backstop date still further.

And in another blow for Leadbeater, MPs voted 12 to 11 to require the Welsh Parliament to approve regulations implementing assisted suicide in Wales.

Even though Leadbeater attempted to downplay the Senedd’s recent vote against the principle of assisted suicide, the Committee agreed with law expert Professor Emyr Lewis’s view that it would be “constitutionally wrong to pass this Bill without the consent of the Welsh Senedd”.

Next, in light of these eleven days of Committee scrutiny, MPs will vote on the Bill for the final time following any further amendments at Report Stage. If it is approved, the legislation will proceed to the House of Lords.

 

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