Disability rights groups are making their voices heard as Lord Falconer attempts to change the law on assisted suicide for the seventh time.
Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill was drawn second in the House of Lords ballot last month, giving him another chance to legalise assisted suicide despite his numerous previous failures.
Private Members’ Bills rarely become law and are even less likely to become law when they have started in the House of Lords, as Lord Falconer’s Bill has. They are, however, an opportunity to raise the profile of a particular issue and can therefore indirectly influence Government-backed legislation.
However, major disability rights groups continue to oppose the legalisation of assisted suicide with Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) recently holding a protest in Parliament Square. Among other demands of the new Labour Government, DPAC called on the Government to reject calls to introduce assisted suicide.
A separate disability rights group, Not Dead Yet UK, explains that it is “deeply concerned” about the Falconer Bill.
“Like many disabled people, we are conscious that attempts to build legalised suicide into healthcare can be profoundly discriminatory – if a non-disabled person wants to die, their doctor does not give them the means to kill themselves”.
“We want the same care and respect to be given to terminally ill people if they are suicidal”.
Instead of promoting assisted suicide, the group advocates for improved access to palliative care and tackling the causes of a perceived lack of dignity and feelings of being a burden.
The group is also highly critical of proposals to introduce assisted suicide, arguing that proposed safeguards will fail to protect disabled people from being targeted. “[I]n reality” Not Dead Yet UK said, “these safeguards are virtually impossible to implement effectively. Even the idea that doctors can accurately predict when a person has six months left to live does not reflect reality”.
No major disability advocate groups in the UK – including Disability Rights UK, Scope and Not Dead Yet UK – support a change in the law to introduce assisted suicide or euthanasia.
Polling commissioned by SCOPE showed that the majority of people with disabilities (64%) – including nearly three-quarters (72%) of young disabled people – are concerned about moves to legalise assisted suicide. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of people with disabilities who were concerned about a change in the law were worried that pressure would be put on disabled people to end their lives prematurely.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “It should come as no surprise that no major disability advocate groups in the UK support a change in the law to introduce assisted suicide”.
“Lord Falconer’s assisted suicide bill will be his seventh parliamentary attempt to change the law on assisted suicide since 2009. That’s almost once every two years for the past 15 years”.
“Both Houses of Parliament have consistently rejected his proposed changes to assisted suicide legislation. Examples of assisted suicide in action in other jurisdictions should continue to function as a dire warning to our elected representatives who should continue to reject Lord Falconer’s proposals”.
“One of the most shocking findings from assisted suicide data in Oregon is that the end-of-life concerns of those who end their lives by assisted suicide are generally not medical. Autonomy, dignity and activities that make life enjoyable are all issues that are not treated by death. Sadly, nearly half of those who choose an assisted death report concerns about being a burden on family and friends. We would be naive to think these same issues would not manifest in England and Wales. The focus must be on palliative care and not on helping vulnerable adults to end their lives”.
