Disability activists are urging MPs to vote against legislation that would place disabled people under pressure to prematurely end their lives.
Kim Leadbeater MP’s Private Members’ Bill on assisted suicide is due for its First Reading in the House of Commons on the 16th October.
Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations (DDPOs) fear that not enough time has been given to fully understand the far-reaching implications of the Bill.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has allowed a free vote. Disability campaigners urge all MPs to vote against the Bill and instead focus on improving access to services, instead of assuming that an early death is the only way to provide dignity at the end of life.
In a briefing sent to MPs today, the ethical and human rights concerns of the legislation are outlined. These include the need for safeguarding against abuse, proper scrutiny of the Bill and fixing services, including palliative care, so that terminally ill people have a genuine choice at the end of life.
Evidence from around the world shows that initial good intentions to provide choice at the end of life can lead to disabled people without terminal illnesses being pushed to an early death because the support to live with dignity is not available.
Ellen Clifford, co-ordinator of the UK DDPO CRDP Monitoring Coalition said, “It is absolutely essential that Parliamentarians get to hear the voices of Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations on this extremely complex and difficult subject. Parliament only gets one go at this and if they get it wrong the consequences will be very dangerous both for individual people vulnerable to abuse and society as a whole. Our support services – palliative care, the NHS, social care and mental health – are currently broken. We must not create a system like Canada where assisted suicide plugs gaps in services, or Oregon where young women with anorexia can end their lives before they find the support they need. The government must get on and fix the foundations so we all have the chance to live with dignity.”
Phil Friend, Not Dead Yet UK member said, “We have seen, again and again, across the world, that laws that begin with relatively strict parameters, such as terminal illness, expand and expand. While we are assured us there will be “safeguards”, in reality, 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.
“And in a world where there is growing awareness of coercive control, and where we know that many do not receive adequate or appropriate medical care, pain management or social care, we are creating the conditions for people to find themselves agreeing that yes, they should probably die, including to avoid feeling like a burden.
What if good care stopped us from wanting to die? Where are the proposed laws to provide everybody with compassionate and appropriate care instead?”
Campaigners highlight how disabled people’s lives are devalued in the UK, and fear that the legislation will exacerbate this.
Kamran Mallick, CEO of Disability Rights UK said, “As CEO of Disability Rights UK, I implore Parliamentarians to recognise the chilling echoes of the COVID-19 pandemic, where Disabled people were unjustly subjected to Do Not Resuscitate orders without their consent. These actions demonstrated a shocking disregard for our lives and autonomy, exposing the prevailing societal belief that Disabled lives are less valuable. Legalising assisted suicide would exacerbate these deeply concerning attitudes, normalising the idea that Disabled people are better off dead than living in a society that fails to provide adequate support.”
Joe Powell, Chief Executive of All Wales People First said, “All Wales People First stand in solidarity with Disabled People Against Cuts with their concerns regarding the proposed ‘assisted suicide legislation’. We are concerned that this legislation may impact on many people with learning disabilities because of misunderstandings about their quality of life. This was particularly evident during the Covid 19 pandemic when many people with learning disabilities were served, inappropriately with do not resuscitate notices. This makes people with learning disabilities particularly vulnerable at this time.”
Dorothy Gould of Liberation said, “People given mental health diagnoses are already dying needlessly, because of a flawed service model and the use of disability-based detention in psychiatric institutions. If assisted suicide legislation is enacted, there is a very real risk that it will spread to us and that yet more of us will then die because we feel so hopeless about receiving the help we actually need”.
Disabled people fear that safeguarding against abuse is not possible and in the longer term, people who are not intended to be included in the scope of the legislation will find themselves without the support needed to live well.
Paula Peters from Disabled People Against Cuts said, “The proposed assisted dying bill about to be laid in Parliament causes deep concern and alarm for many disabled people. It is impossible to put strong enough safeguards in place to prevent coercion and feeling that we have become a burden on our families and the state. We fear that non-disabled people will be making choices about what is best for us and that our voices will be dismissed as they often are.
“This bill is a danger to disabled people’s human rights. Disabled people already feel devalued and we lack support to live life with dignity and have control and choice over our own lives.
“That there are many MPs who wish to widen the bill to include something as subjective as ‘incurable suffering’ is absolutely terrifying. Give us dignity in life and allow us choice and control over our lives.”
Rhian Davies, chief executive of Disability Wales said, “Disability Wales opposes the assisted suicide private members bill. We acknowledge the lived experience of pain, suffering and distress on both sides of this debate nevertheless we are deeply concerned at the far-reaching implications of this bill both for individuals and society as a whole. Given the dire impact of austerity, Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis on disabled people including in Wales, we fear that this bill would further devalue disabled lives and undermine their very right to life.
“Disability Wales advocates for better support to ensure dignity and independent living, rather than offering assisted suicide as a solution to the challenges in the system that disabled people face daily.”
There are concerns that disabled people outside England and Wales could also be affected.
Michael Lorimer of Disabled People Against Cuts Northern Ireland said, “Although the Bill does not apply in Northern Ireland, the potential exists for people to travel to England and Wales. DPAC NI does not believe it is possible to ever safely legislate for assisted suicide. We do not accept that a Private Member’s Bill provides sufficient scrutiny for such a fundamental change. We call on our MPs to vote against the Bill and support the proper resourcing of services including palliative care.”
Editor’s notes:
The Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations’ Coalition briefing on ‘Choice at the End of Life’ [ATTACHED]
The DDPO Coalition includes Alliance for Inclusive Education, All Wales People First, Disabled People Against Cuts, Disabled People Against Cuts Northern Ireland, Disability Rights UK, Disability Wales, Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People, Liberation, Omnibus Partnership.
Media contact: Ellen Clifford 07505144371; livingwithdignity@hotmail.com
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