Concern mounts over assisted suicide bill as safeguards rejected

The assisted suicide bill is becoming mired in confusion and growing fears as days of parliamentary scrutiny unfold, with Kim Leadbeater MP appearing muddled about her own proposals.

Leadbeater said from the start that her proposals for assisted dying will be “the safest in the world”. But days of debate at committee stage have prompted growing alarm that it could allow the terminally ill to choose to die because they feel a burden on their loved ones – financially or otherwise.

Christian MP Danny Kruger has persistently challenged Leadbeater whether someone who seeks assisted suicide, in the absence of coercion, to ease a financial burden on family members would be approved. She refused, at least four times, to give a clear answer.

Rebecca Paul MP has asked for a simple “yes” or “no” answer to the questions Kruger raised. Leadbeater replied: “Ultimately it does come down to the question of autonomy and dignity and choice for patients.” Kruger said on X: “At the end [we] managed to get Kim Leadbeater to admit that under her bill a person would be able to get an assisted death for the sole reason of saving their relatives money.”

MPs have rejected several amendments intended to tighten safeguards in the bill. It means people with impaired judgement, those with eating disorders, the depressed and suicidal, the disabled, prisoners and the homeless – and anyone one else who fits the criteria but simply feels a burden – could choose assisted suicide. Even those with a terminal illness or condition that can be controlled or slowed down would be eligible for assisted death.

‘This bill terrifies me’

Sir Liam Fox, former MP and former GP, said: “As a doctor and MP, I fought for the rights of the most vulnerable. This bill terrifies me – it opens the door to exploitation. Instead, let’s invest in better palliative care and ensure dignity in death, not a ‘national death service’.”

Every doctor faced with a terminally ill patient must raise the option of assisted dying – as a “treatment option” – Kim Leadbeater said during one committee session. “That is the whole purpose of the bill”, she added.

But when challenged, she backtracked and said doctors are not under any obligation, and it “is about professional judgement”. Clause 4, as drafted, states doctors are not under any duty to raise the option of assisted suicide with a patient, even if the patient has not raised it.

However, an amendment that would prevent doctors from proactively raising it with a patient was rejected by MPs, prompting several MPs to rethink their support for the bill. Tory MP David Davis said he did not want the state to initiate the process. “That is critical for me.”

Referring to the doctor’s position of power and influence over their patient, Juliet Campbell MP said: “The doctor’s suggestion seems like a recommendation. If an individual chooses assisted death because it feels like a recommendation, that decision is no longer autonomous.”

Dominic Whitehouse, a palliative care consultant said: “I don’t want to see fear in my patients’ eyes when I go to see them, fear that I’m going to suggest assisted dying to them.”

Disability Labour said in written evidence to the committee that the needs of disabled people have not been thoroughly addressed (disabled people are mentioned just once in the bill). The group also raised concerns around coercion, saying the bill shows a “very narrow understanding of the forms coercion might take.”

The Christian Legal Centre said in written evidence that “the most significant shortcoming of the bill relates to the issue of mental capacity and coercion.”

Support for the bill has been waning. If 30 or more MPs withdraw their initial support for the proposals at the final vote, expected to be in April, it will fail.

Day of prayer

A day of prayer against assisted suicide will take place for Christians across the UK on Tuesday 25 March. It has been organised by the Christian Institute (CI), together with Affinity, CARE, the Christian Medical Fellowship, and the Evangelical Alliance.

CI director Ciarán Kelly said: “Now is a key moment to pray for the failure of efforts to legalise assisted suicide for ill and vulnerable people.”

For more information, visit Christian.org.uk