House of Lords to consider ‘dangerous’ assisted suicide Bill

The House of Lords is expected to debate legalising assisted suicide over the coming months.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton is due to introduce the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill on Friday, which aims to allow assisted suicide for those deemed to have less than six months to live. The proposals are likely to be debated later this year.

Lord Falconer has attempted to remove end-of-life protections several times, after his previous Private Members’ Bills did not complete their parliamentary stages.

Loneliness

Dr Gordon Macdonald, Chief Executive of the UK’s leading anti-assisted suicide group Care Not Killing, criticised activists for sending “a dog whistle message to the terminally ill, vulnerable, elderly and disabled people, that their lives are worth less than others”.

He highlighted that many people who have requested assisted suicide in other countries have cited “loneliness” and “fear of being a burden” as reasons for wanting to end their lives.

Dr Macdonald said Parliament should improve palliative care in the UK, instead of pushing a “dangerous and ideological policy that will fundamentally alter healthcare and lead to many premature deaths”.

Opposition

The Prime Minister, who has previously voted in favour of introducing assisted suicide, has said he is more determined than ever to grant parliamentary time to consider axing end-of-life protections for the vulnerable.

But earlier this year, MPs from across the political spectrum spoke out against legalising assisted suicide during a debate in Parliament’s Westminster Hall.

In response to a petition calling for a vote on the issue, several MPs highlighted that in countries which have already changed the law, ‘safeguards’ have been eroded and overall suicides have increased, as has the number of people requesting to be killed for fear of being a burden.

Many MPs also spoke out against assisted suicide in a similar debate two years ago, while the most recent legislation to be voted on in the House of Commons was defeated by 330 to 118.