Paralympic medallist speaks out against assisted suicide

Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson has spoken out against proposals to legalise assisted suicide in the UK.

The Peer and former Paralympic athlete said a ‘right to die’ could all too easily become a ‘duty to die’ for those in vulnerable positions.

Writing in The Times this week, Baroness Grey-Thompson said:

“I am uncomfortable being asked to vote through something on principle and we work out the details later. The devil is in the detail. Because the principle fundamentally changes the medic/patient relationship”.

She recounted times when people told her they wouldn’t want to live if they were her, adding:

“All too often the assumption is made by those who are in robust health, that terminal illness is something unbearable or if you’re disabled you would be better off dead… What message does this send out to disabled people?”

And she warned that medics who have malign intent would be hard to detect under a law that allows the prescription of lethal drugs:

“A colleague once told me, ‘Where there is a will, there is a relative’ and we cannot assume that all relatives are kind. We also have to consider what would happen if there were another Dr Harold Shipman”.

“Passing a law on this would make it incredibly difficult to identify someone with similar intentions.”

A spokesperson for CARE said:

“All life has intrinsic value and dignity – regardless of individual attributes and circumstances. We recognise how immensely difficult it is to suffer or to see a loved one enduring pain, but, as Christians, we are called to protect those who are vulnerable and assist people to live – not to commit suicide.

“CARE therefore strongly opposes a change to the law on assisted suicide in the UK, and we work to support truly compassionate approaches to care at the end of life being articulated in our parliaments and assemblies.”