Image (Right) – Wikipedia Commons: Baroness Grey-Thompson
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill currently under debate in the UK House of Lords has sparked a heated moral debate over assisted dying. SPUC continues to stand resolutely against any legislation that legalises ending life, recognising the immense danger it poses to society’s most vulnerable.
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, crossbench peer, Paralympic legend, and disability rights advocate, voices this concern with personal gravitas. She has reported receiving abusive emails accusing her of being “responsible for people dying in pain” simply because she opposes the assisted dying bill. The vitriol she’s received underscores how deeply emotional and divisive this Bill has become.
Her stance is forged in personal experience. Reflecting on her mother’s death from cancer, Baroness Grey-Thompson urges the nation to direct its energy toward ensuring proper specialist palliative care, not addressing the fear of dying by legalising state-sanctioned death.
SPUC’s mission is to champion dignity, support, and compassionate care, not expedited death. Legalisation risks transforming society’s perception of value, especially if it leads to a presumption that some lives, due to age, disability, or illness, are less worth preserving.
There are additional, profound concerns about the bill’s structure. Baroness Grey-Thompson warns of a slippery slope, such as doctors being bypassed, coercion in vulnerable groups, and erosion of safeguards. This shift could permanently alter our relationship with medicine, society, and the duty to care for those at the margins.
SPUC maintains that compassion should deepen our commitment to life-affirming care systems, improving palliative and support services, bolstering safeguards, and reaffirming that every individual’s life carries innate dignity. Fostering a culture where death isn’t an easy option but life is relentlessly valued should be our collective goal.
In allowing painful debates to devolve into abuse, we lose sight of the shared humanity at risk. Instead of normalising assisted death, we must pursue what truly uplifts society: unwavering support, respect for life, and care that speaks hope, not surrender.
