Fiddling while Rome Burns
MP Lauren Edwards, who came second in the ballot for Private Members’ Bills, has pledged to reintroduce, with exactly the same wording, The Terminally Ill Adults (End of life) Bill that ran out of time in the House of Lords earlier this year, after Peers tabled more than 1,000 amendments reflecting their concerns over the provision of safeguards to protect the vulnerable. Ms Edwards has labelled the House of Lords’ opposition an ideological breach of democracy, saying, “I don’t think it’s right that the will of the elected House of Commons has … been subverted by a very small group of peers, many of whom are really ideologically opposed to legislation, who talked it out.” She herself, of course, ideologically supports assisted dying and claims that the Bill, as it stands, is already robust, having been subjected to ‘hours of scrutiny in both chambers‘.
She is misguided.
Supporters of assisted suicide say that helping someone who is terminally ill and in the latter stages of life to avoid suffering and choose the moment of their passing is humane and an act of compassion, but all of the Royal Colleges, while maintaining a position of neutrality on the principle of assisted dying, have expressed opposition to this Bill – in the main, for fear that palliative care will suffer and that the vulnerable will be coerced into making decisions they wouldn’t otherwise consider. But there are other worries – and which are perhaps of even greater concern. In these cash-strapped times, for instance, it is far cheaper to give someone a pill to end it all, rather than costly treatment to keep them alive, for what may well prove a limited time. Common sense demands that we conserve resources, so at the very least, people should be ‘offered’ death! And, in such a climate, the elderly may very easily feel they are a burden, while someone suffering from mental illness and at a low point, may be ‘encouraged’ to make a decision they will later have no chance to regret. Even worse, the doctors may make the decision for them (see our Report, When End of Life Care Goes Wrong).
There are many areas of concern, and the supposed ‘safeguards’ included are literally not worth the paper on which they are written. The attempt to legalise assisted suicide, making doctors executioners rather than providers of care, is not compassion, but the State-sponsored advancement of death, which holds people of value only so long as they are wanted and of use.
And while there would be undeniable savings financially in not having to provide long-term health care, there would at the same time be high costs, especially in the short-term, for implementation, training, oversight, and possible (inevitable) legal challenges, to any such change. In these critical times, when we live under the shadow of war, social fragmentation, and increasing civil unrest, is it not better to apply precious resources to strengthening social cohesion and defending ourselves against attack?
Lauren Edwards, however, is apparently undeterred by any and all such considerations. By putting forward an identical Bill to that introduced by Kim Leadbeater in 2024, she raises the possibility of use of the Parliament Acts, which allow for bills that have been backed by the Commons in two successive sessions, but rejected by peers, to become law without approval of the Lords. Ms Edwards claims that this is not her intention, but at the same time says, ‘… we cannot allow an unelected minority to frustrate the democratic process for a second time.’ Her decision to use the exact wording of the Leadbeater Bill would, therefore, seem directly to contradict this claim. But it also, of course, means that the Bill will once again have to win the support of the Commons and, given that previously it passed only by a narrow majority of 23 – some of whom said at the time they were unsure – that is by no means assured.
There is therefore everything to play for, and VfJUK urges supporters to contact their MPs, urging them to take a stand against this dangerous legislation, which would put the elderly, disabled, and vulnerable of all ages at risk, and cause more problems than it purports to solve.
For help what to say, please go to our website here:
https://vfjuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Briefing-paper-on-Assisted-Suicide-2.pdf ; https://vfjuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Factsheet-on-Assisted-Suicide-Summary-of-FAQs.pdf