A new onslaught to legalise assisted suicide starts today as Baroness Meacher introduces an Assisted Dying Bill into the House of Lords. SPUC’s Alithea Williams says: “This is the first stage of another concerted attempt to legislate for this barbaric practise in Parliament.”
The bill is being introduced just days after the “Sunday Times” launched a campaign calling for the legalisation of “assisted dying”. In a further worrying move, Secretary of State for Health Matt Hancock last month wrote to the Office of National Statistics to ask for “more data on suicides by terminally ill people and the possible impact of the ban on assisted dying.”
Alithea Williams explains: “Baroness Meacher’s bill has to be seen in light of a fresh assault on Westminster by the assisted suicide lobby. They failed to bring it in through the courts, so they are again turning their attention to Parliament. As a private members’ bill starting in the Lords, Baroness Meacher’s bill is very unlikely to make it into law, but it is all part of a concerted strategy to forward their agenda.”
Baroness Meacher’s bill will have its first reading today, meaning that the title will be read out and the bill formally introduced. The bill will not be debated until the second reading, which is unlikely to take place until September or October.
Scotland is also facing the threat of legalised assisted suicide. The Scottish Parliament is expected to launch a consultation on assisted suicide in the coming months, with the prospect of a bill in Holyrood in 2022.
Miss Williams went on: “The threat of assisted suicide, with all its horrific consequences, being legalised within our shores is very real. Whether it comes from Westminster or Holyrood, the effects will be felt throughout Britain. However, there is still time to fight it.
“We need to be making the compassionate case that people are never burdens to be disposed of, and that everyone deserves love and care until the very end of life, regardless of age or frailty. We must speak out against the despair that leads people to think that their lives are worthless. We need to share the abundant evidence from countries which have legalised assisted suicide that it cannot be controlled and soon leads to involuntary euthanasia, euthanasia of children and psychiatric patients, and other vulnerable groups.
“This bill marks the start of a new battle against the lives of the most vulnerable – we must fight back now.”