Assisted Dying? Don’t worry yourselves

Or rather do. If MPs vote for voluntary euthanasia there’ll be no turning back

That death pod. Couldn’t happen here of course.

The Labour whips seem confident that Kim Leadbeater’s Dignity in Dying Bill will secure its second reading this week in the Commons. The public supports it, according to polls, as does the Prime Minister. With around 400 Labour MPs wishing to curry favour with their leader, it seems likely that Britain will finally take this fateful step towards voluntary euthanasia.

“Don’t worry about the details around consent, coercion, conscience clauses, and the rest,” say supporters of the bill. “That can all be hammered out in the Lords.” Or not, as the case may be. I don’t think legislating first and asking questions later is a responsible way to address any complex issue.

Once assisted suicide is on the statute book, it will be unstoppable. We know from the experience of other countries that the bill will likely be broadened beyond its present restriction to people with terminal illnesses. Under the ECHR, people without terminal illnesses—disabled individuals unable to cope or those with psychological conditions—will surely argue that they should not suffer discrimination and that they deserve the right to end their lives if they choose.

There are no guarantees that elderly people will not feel pressured into departing this world so as not to be a burden upon it. This clip of Ms Leadbeater from The News Agents illustrates the point:

LEADBEATER: If someone is sitting there, saying, "I might as well just go, I'm being a burden to everyone," the doctor will clearly pick up on that and say, "Hang on, this is about you and it's about your choice."

LEWIS GOODALL: But if they say "I want to do that anyway," would under your system that still happen?

LEADBEATER: Well, there is an argument that having personal choice and autonomy is part of the whole process. However, they would have to be assessed as having the capacity and making sure that no-one else has coerced them into doing that”.

I don’t know about you, but I find that somewhat less than reassuring. Here is why I realised that I could not support the misleadingly named Dignity in Dying Bill.