We welcome the detailed report from the Commons Health and Social Care Committee, which catalogues the dangers of legalising assisted suicide or euthanasia, however given the evidence the MPs heard is disappointing that they have not come down firmly against changing the law.
The committee recognises about the huge problems in patients accessing good quality palliative care [Conclusions 13-15]. It heard about the struggle many face with getting the right social care and how disabled people, the vulnerable and elderly find it tough to pay their bills or suffer from isolation and feel like they have become a burden. Indeed, one expert told the Committee about the clear evidence of the pressure on people who were seen as no longer ‘a useful member of society” [Par 140] and that this pressure could be nonintentional. This is exactly what we see in places like Oregon, where a majority ending their lives cite burden on their families as a reason for ending their lives or Canada where 1,700 people cited loneliness as a reason for allowing the state to kill them.