The UK a ‘perfect storm’ for assisted suicide harms

Legalising assisted suicide in the UK would come at the expense of the sick, the poor and the vulnerable, a Telegraph columnist has said.

Given that some polling suggests public support for a change in the law, The Telegraph’s Madeline Grant says she fears some politicians may see changing the law as an ‘easy win’ to establish their legacy.

However, new polling reveals that when people look at the details and practicalities of the issue, support for assisted suicide drops considerably.

The sick

The poll by Whitestone Insight for the think tank Living and Dying Well revealed many people fear that doctors may encourage patients to consider assisted suicide in order to ease the pressure on the NHS if it were legalised.

Grant said people are right to be concerned, adding: “the NHS is already built around rationing, sometimes denying treatment on the grounds of cost”.

She continued: “Macabre as it may seem, ‘die, so you won’t be a burden on the NHS’ is a position I can imagine our political culture at least implicitly endorsing.”

The poor and vulnerable

Another concern for Grant was those in poverty, saying: “Caring for a relative is an unbelievably – sometimes unbearably – difficult task, requiring patience, good humour, familial support and money.”

If assisted suicide is legalised, she feared that for those who already feel like a burden on their families it “will be impossible to quantify the soft societal pressure” to die.

Grant stated: “The slippery slope is visible everywhere that has adopted some form of euthanasia.”

She explained how even in Oregon, the US state often held as an example of good practice for assisted suicide, people with conditions including diabetes, arthritis and anorexia have been killed under its law.

Safeguard

Grant questioned: “Is it the job of the state and our legislators to ‘give’ more rights to people or is it to safeguard the rights of those who are vulnerable?”

She cautioned: “though we will hear from eloquent, high-profile supporters, citing heartbreaking examples of patients in agonising pain at the end of their lives, we will almost by definition rarely hear from those who might suffer from the social pressure a change in law would bring.”

The Christian Institute contributed to a consultation on the topic in Scotland which closed this month, warning that any change to the law would be “hugely damaging” to society. A debate on assisted suicide is expected in the House of Lords later this year.