The controversial assisted suicide bill is being pushed forward in a “lamentable and wholly unacceptable” manner and will, if passed, result in vulnerable people being pressured into ending their lives prematurely, Britain’s longest-serving MPs have warned.
Labour’s Diane Abbott and Conservative Edward Leigh come from radically different political backgrounds, but—with an impressive combined parliamentary experience of 79 years—have united to produce an impassioned caution against both the “process” of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill and “its likely practice once implemented.”
Writing in The Guardian, the pair said that the fact the bill was introduced just 18 days ahead of the second House of Commons reading on November 29th—when a measly five-hour debate will take place on the subject—means parliamentary scrutiny is “limited.”
What’s more, as reports emerge that MPs are being pressured into voting in favour of legalising assisted suicide, Abbott and Leigh suggested “there is more than a suspicion that the pressure groups behind this proposed change have sought to take advantage of an inexperienced new parliament,” which has been sitting for little more than 10 weeks.
They added that if, as seems likely, the law is changed, “it is not impossible to imagine a malevolent family member tacitly pressuring a disabled terminally ill relative to consider an assisted death.”
Or consider the elderly widow who has been hospitalised and worries she is taking up a valuable bed in an NHS under significant strain and would be better off dead.
Journalist Kevin Meagher described theirs as a “powerful and correct intervention,” adding that “the assisted suicide bill is poorly drafted, will damage the NHS and imperil vulnerable adults.”
Despite serious concerns surrounding the bill, MPs have described the pressure being applied on them to vote in favour of legalisation as “overshadowing” whipping operations on less impactful bills.
Political blog Guido Fawkes also reported on Wednesday that the campaign group pushing for a change in the law has spent “an eye-watering £181,122 [€217,222] on Facebook and Instagram ads” in just the past 90 days. It added that “should the bill pass, it’s not clear whether any private companies [financially backing the change] will be involved in the provision of this service. Though the public deserve the right to know.”
