Ellen Clifford has warned that the disabled have been excluded from the assisted suicide debate, “a not insignificant group of people whose lives are directly threatened by [such] legalisation”.
Clifford, a disabled activist, commenting on assisted suicide in The Morning Star, has written that, “as is typical of coverage of this subject, the voices of disabled campaigners have been ignored in the mainstream media… [and] opportunities for disabled people to ring the warning bell are few”.
Citing numerous concerns regarding assisted suicide, Clifford explained that “the British public is generally unaware of the potentially very serious social justice implications of [assisted suicide] legalisation”.
“This isn’t helped by supporters cynically presenting it as a ‘pro-choice’ issue when it is anything but, leading to removal of options for those who are terminally ill and disabled to continue living”, she continued.
And if assisted suicide is legalised, Stafford writes, the negative attitude towards disabled people will only increase, enabling the view that it is better to be dead than disabled,
Moreover, Stafford fears that assisted suicide will be seen as a cost-cutting measure that would eventually become the default response to the challenges of care, including for the disabled, as has been seen already in Canada.
“In Britain”, Stafford warns, “the consequences of similar legislation after nearly a decade-and-a-half of austerity are unthinkable”.
“A disaster waiting to happen”
Daniel Frampton, SPUC’s Editorial Officer, said: “As Ellen Clifford rightly states, the disabled have the most the lose – i.e., their lives – if assisted suicide is legalised. And if they cannot even get a hearing in public debate, then what will happen once assisted suicide is imposed on them? The same neglect will surely result in lives being needlessly lost.
“As the efforts to legalise assisted suicide gather pace across the UK, supporters of such legislation, including celebrities like Esther Rantzen, have ignored the profound concerns of the disabled and other groups. As Clifford writes, these celebrities do not speak for the disabled or, indeed, other vulnerable individuals.
“In the end, the utilitarian drive to empty hospital beds and cut costs, combined with assisted suicide, is a disaster waiting to happen – and given the example of Canada, it is entirely foreseeable. The public must be made aware of the dangers, and the disabled deserve to be protected and have their voices heard.”
The example of Canada
In 2022, a disabled woman in her early thirties, known as Denise, was conditionally granted assisted suicide in Canada after she was unable to find “liveable” accommodation. She cited neglect and “abject poverty” as her reasons to die.
The disability funding that Denise, a wheelchair user with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS), received from the state was not enough for her to afford suitable housing, as reported by SPUC.
In 2022, there were 13,241 state-sanctioned assisted suicides in Canada – surging by almost a third yet again – and a third of these individuals cited fear of being a burden on family and friends as a reason to die.
The death toll since 2016, when assisted suicide was introduced in Canada, stands at 44,958 (as of December 2022).