MP Kim Leadbeater has admitted for the first time that the eligibility criteria of her proposed assisted suicide bill could be expanded in the future. “That could happen”, she confessed on LBC on 21 March.
Challenged by LBC’s Natasha Clark on whether the proposed law would create a “slippery slope”, Ms Leadbeater conceded that later amendments might be possible as “that could happen with any [law]”.
“I’d be surprised if this came back for five or 10 years”, Ms Leadbeater said. “If you think about Oregon, since 1997, the eligibility criteria there have not changed… I think we have to look at the Bill as it stands.”
Assisted suicide in the US state of Oregon surged by 21% in 2023; 43% of people killed by assisted suicide in the state that year cited not wanting to be a burden on loved ones, and 8% said they wanted to die because of the cost of their medical expenses.
Ms Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill proposes to legalise assisted suicide for terminally ill adults given six months to live. The Bill is currently at Committee stage and will be subjected to a second vote by MPs next month.
Despite mounting concerns about her Bill and the lack of scrutiny at Committee stage, Ms Leadbeater said she felt “positive” about the likelihood of it being passed into law.
On the controversial decision to replace the proposed High Court judge sign-off provision with an Assisted Dying Commission that will sign off on assisted suicide applications, Ms Leadbeater claimed that it was a “really robust framework, none of which exists at the moment”.
In Canada, where assisted suicide was legalised in 2016 for terminally ill adults, the law was amended in 2021 to include people suffering from non-terminal conditions.
In 2023, there were over 15,000 deaths registered under Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying scheme (MAiD), a rise of 16% compared with the previous year. Assisted suicide now accounts for almost one in 20 deaths in Canada.
Social isolation and loneliness are common reasons cited in MAiD cases. Canadian veterans suffering from PTSD have also been recommended assisted suicide in recent years. Other citizens have been granted MAiD because of poverty.
In nations like Belgium and the Netherlands, it is now legal to euthanise children, with six such cases being registered in Belgium since 2014. In the Netherlands, the euthanasia law was amended in 2023 to include children aged one to 12.
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