Andy Drozdziak
Opponents of assisted suicide have hit back at Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer’s promise to provide parliamentary time for a vote on legalising assisted suicide if Labour win the election.
Starmer, who personally supports a change in law, was speaking to Dame Esther Rantzen, who has publicly called on Parliament to back a change in the current law. Currently, assisting someone to commit suicide is illegal under the Suicide Act 1961 and carries the possible sentence of up to 14 years in prison.
Starmer told Dame Esther that a Labour government would allow MPs time to debate and vote on a change in the law, adding that there would need to be ‘safeguards with teeth’ to help protect the most vulnerable from the risk of coercion or abuse.
However, CEO of Care Not Killing Dr Gordon Macdonald warned Sir Keir Starmer of the ‘real dangers’ of legalising assisted suicide, including radically altering the patient/doctor relationship.
“Changing the law to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia in the UK would represent a dramatic change in how doctors and nurses treat and care for people and put the lives of the vulnerable, terminally ill and disabled people at risk,” Dr Macdonald told The Times.
“Sir Keir needs to recognise the real dangers associated with legalising state-sanctioned killing, such as the pressure it puts on people to end their lives prematurely, and the growing body of evidence showing assisted suicide appears [to] normalise suicide in the general populations.”
Social policy charity Christian Action Research and Education (CARE) acknowledged that this is ‘a highly emotive topic’, but called instead for investment in ‘high quality palliative care’ to support those at the end of life.
CARE said: “Pioneered by a Christian, palliative care is a holistic form of care, which addresses relational, mental, emotional, spiritual and physical pain.
“In this way, we can help ensure a good death, without taking the step to give a patient a lethal drug so they can kill themselves.”
CARE also pointed to the ‘burden’ placed on those who are vulnerable, elderly or sick.
“Any assisted suicide law would place a genuine, yet subtle burden on some of the frailest in our communities. A message would be sent to them and others that if you are seriously ill, or infirm, perhaps you should think about ending your own life so you are not a burden,” CARE said.
Pictures: Wikimedia Commons (Keir Starmer) and YouTube screengrab (Gordon Macdonald)