A palliative care expert has warned that assisted suicide laws are “not just fundamentally flawed – but downright dangerous”. The intervention comes as the UK considers new legislation.
Dr Amy Profitt is a palliative care consultant and former president of the Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain and Ireland (APM).
In an article published online, Dr Profitt warned against “blindly” supporting “fundamentally flawed” and “downright dangerous” assisted suicide laws for the UK.
“Assisted dying is not within a doctor’s duty of care”, she said. Rather, doctors must “protect the most sick and vulnerable”.
Dr Profitt was especially concerned that assisted suicide, if legalised, would “mean that the NHS cuts back on cash for palliative care…
“New Zealand used to be ranked third in the world for the quality of its end-of-life care. After it introduced assisted dying in 2019, it dropped to 11th.”
“Better to focus on improving NHS palliative care rather than introducing assisted dying. Yet that doesn't even seem to be on the agenda”, she concluded.
“It is bonkers…”
An assisted suicide bill proposed for England and Wales by Lord Falconer is being considered by the House of Lords. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also promised a free vote on assisted suicide at some point during his Labour Government.
A draft for a similar bill in Scotland is further advanced. The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, proposed by Liam McArthur MSP, is at Stage 1. Last month, the Law Society of Scotland slammed the draft bill as “not fit for purpose”.
In 2023, Dr Matthew Doré, the honorary secretary at the APM, warned a Westminster inquiry into assisted suicide that introducing such a law in the UK would be “bonkers… We are against this in healthcare, and certainly in palliative care.”
In a position statement in 2020, the APM, which represents over 1,200 palliative medicine doctors, said: “The APM opposes any change in the law to license doctors to supply or administer lethal drugs to a patient to enable them to take their own life.
“The majority (85%) of our membership do not support a change in the law, and a similar percentage would refuse to participate in assisted suicide or administer euthanasia.”
“We must protect patients and the integrity of medicine”
Daniel Frampton, SPUC’s Editorial Officer, said: “Increasingly, we see assisted suicide advanced as a cost-saving measure, relieving the burden on finances and care systems by making others feel they are a ‘burden’.
“This cruel ethic sends the message that many lives aren’t worth living. The urge to usher patients into premature graves should not be underestimated. In Canada, there were over 15,000 state-sanctioned assisted suicides in 2023.
“The worrying neglect of vulnerable people, especially the elderly and those suffering from illness, coupled with assisted suicide is a disaster waiting to happen. The only safeguard against this is not to legalise it in the first place.
“It is important that politicians and the public listen to doctors like Dr Profitt and Dr Doré who are on the frontline of care, medical professionals who deal every day with dying and suffering patients. We must protect these people and the integrity of medicine.”