A leading palliative care doctor has slammed MP Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill as “deeply dangerous” ahead of a decisive vote in Westminster later this month.
Dr Amy Proffitt is a palliative care expert and vocal critic of Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End Of Life) Bill, set to be debated and voted on by MPs on 13 June.
Condemning the Bill as “not fit for purpose”, Dr Proffitt called on MPs to reject the draft legislation.
“It’s far from a safe system”, said Dr Proffitt. “I think it’s deeply dangerous for the bill… suggesting that the vulnerable in society are not worth it…
“Put that into our NHS and what does it say about us as a society… those with disability, those with learning disabilities, those with social deprivation?”
Dr Proffitt is a former president of the Association of Palliative Medicine (APM), which opposes assisted suicide.
A 2022 survey of APM members found that nearly 90 per cent were concerned that the British public was being manipulated into supporting assisted suicide by an exaggerated focus on “traumatic” and “negative” case stories.
One respondent said: “Most of the time the bad ones hit the news and overshadow all the good work that’s carried out by palliative care teams… I wish there would be a lot more publicity and promotion about all positive experiences of death and dying that occur across the country.”
In 2023, Dr Matthew Doré, honorary secretary at the APM, said it would be “bonkers” to legalise assisted suicide.
“We are talking about having an assisted dying/assisted suicide Bill that would be 100% commissioned and funded by the NHS when we leave the palliative care sector to be funded by the charitable sector”, said Dr Doré.
“That is the state essentially endorsing death while not funding and paying for palliative care.”
43 per cent of people killed by assisted suicide in Oregon in 2023 said that not wanting to be a burden on loved ones was a reason to die, while 8 per cent said they wanted to die because of the high cost of their medical expenses.
Similarly, in Canada in 2022, almost half of assisted suicides cited being a burden on family, friends or caregivers as influencing their decision.
Last year, palliative care doctors penned an open letter condemning Leadbeater’s Bill, calling it a “cheaper solution” to real medicine.
The letter read: “Thousands of people dedicate their lives to walking beside people and their families facing death. Those dying need properly resourced care…
“Currently, hospices are funded predominantly by charitable donations; funding is dwindling and costs rising, consequently hospice beds are closing. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that assisted dying is financially a cheaper solution than providing holistic care to those who are dying. We palliative medicine registrars strongly oppose this Bill.”
Leadbeater’s Bill proposes to legalise assisted suicide in England and Wales for terminally ill adults given six months to live.
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