MPs debate assisted suicide petition

Westminster politicians are debating assisted suicide for the second time in recent months as a petition brought forward by campaigners reaches parliament.

Today, a petition by pro-assisted suicide group Dignity in Dying which attracted controversy for involving paid-for signatures is the focus of a Westminster Hall debate.

Speaking ahead of the debate, campaigners urged MPs not to change the law, emphasising the fact that parliament has repeatedly rejected a change in the law.

Dr Miro Griffiths, a spokesperson for the Better Way campaign, commented:

“Parliamentarians have debated the issue of assisted suicide several times in recent years and roundly rejected a change in the law as recently as 2015. This is because, when global evidence is reviewed, the litany of dangers associated with this practice become obvious.

“The evidence clearly demonstrates that assisted suicide changes societies for the worse. In other countries, access to palliative care has stagnated or declined. Existing inequalities have been made worse. ‘Safeguards’ have proved completely ineffective and have been dispensed with quickly.

“We cannot risk these harmful outcomes in the UK, especially in a “post”-coronavirus world where healthcare budgets are stretched. Instead of opening the door to assisted suicide, politicians should pursue socially just and emancipatory policies for those implicated by a change in the law.”

Dr Mark Pickering from the campaign group Care Not Killing said:

"Many of the heartbreaking stories that we hear driving the assisted suicide debate are of people who sadly did not get the right palliative care, and did not have access to the best support at the time of their dying or their loved ones dying. We really need to fix that."