The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has responded to the news that a debate on assisted dying will take place on the afternoon of Thursday 4 July.
The debate has been brought forward by Nick Boles MP (Independent Progressive Conservative, Grantham and Stamford). The debate will be on the functioning of the existing law relating to assisted dying. No division is expected.
John Deighan, Deputy CEO of SPUC, said that the debate still needs to be taken seriously: "This motion is part of a concerted campaign to legalise assisted suicide. Mr Boles has said himself that he hopes it will lead to a Private Member’s Bill. In the last few days we have also seen moves for medical bodies to drop their historic opposition to doctors helping patients to end their lives. Despite cunning approaches by assisted suicide advocates to achieve this, it is clear that doctors oppose assisted dying - The Royal College of Physicians changed its position to a neutral one despite only 25% of members polled voting for this, and the majority of 43.4% remaining opposed.
"It must be remembered that the last time assisted dying was debated in Parliament, in 2015, it was soundly defeated," Mr Deighan continued. "There were good reasons for this. The current law protects every citizen, especially the elderly, sick and disabled. Offering people the choice to end their lives creates unacceptable pressure for them to choose death. This can be seen in jurisdictions where it is legal - for example, in Washington State, 56% of people who were killed by assisted dying said a reason behind it was being a burden on family, friends and caregivers."
Mr Deighan went on: "If anything, the evidence of the dangers of assisted suicide and euthanasia has mounted since 2015. There have been truly horrific cases from Belgium and the Netherlands of people being euthanised against their will, people being "helped" to die who are not dying but suffer from mental illnesses, and the law being extended to children. If there was any doubt before, it is now abundantly clear that no safeguards are sufficient to protect people from the consequences of legal killing.
"We will be asking our supporters to contact their MPs and ask them to speak up against this and any move to introduce assisted dying. We must work to enhance life for sick, disabled and elderly people, not pass a law which offers them death as a solution to their problems," he concluded.
Notes to editors:
For further information contact
John Deighan, Deputy CEO of SPUC:
- Tel: 0141 221 2094
- Mob: 07802 739265