Advocates oppose new UK assisted dying bill

Two British workers' unions on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Keir Starmer to oppose recent changes to an assisted dying bill working its way through Parliament. The joint letter from the Transport and Travel Union and the Disability Labour union came just a day after British MP Kim Leadbeater wrote a column in The Guardian proposing changes to a bill aimed at making it easier to die through medically assisted means. Leadbeater proposed assigning special commissions to review each application for a medically assisted death. Currently, citizens of the U.K. seeking to end their lives through means of assisted dying must obtain high court approval, according to The Guardian.

Why are the unions opposing this new bill? The unions say that the legislation could lead to individuals in need of help being coerced and manipulated into ending their lives instead. The potential for systemic pressures and unintended harms to wreak havoc on those with disabilities or long-term health struggles is significant, Transportation and Travel Union General Secretary Maryam Eslamdoust and Disability Labour chairwoman Kathy Bole said in the letter. The focus of health care should be care—meaning preserving life where possible and providing comfort when individuals cannot be cured, the letter stated.

Why is Leadbeater trying to make it easier to obtain medically assisted death? She believes that the United Kingdom has a responsibility to help its citizens end their lives comfortably when their only other option is horrendous, agonizing pain, she said. She acknowledged, though, that any assisted dying process must protect people from coercion or pressure. But very few people are coerced into medically assisted death, Leadbeater insisted. More often than not, family members seek to persuade their loved ones not to end their lives, she argued.

Dig deeper: Listen to Lynn Vincent’s Lawless podcast about the controversial death of Terri Schiavo.