Should we support the right to die?

(c) MHJohnson

This year we have seen a great effort to change laws concerning assisted suicide, notably by Patricia Hewitt following the pleas of MS sufferer Debbie Purdy. In September, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer announced that it would be possible not to prosecute relatives who out of compassion, aid their loved ones in committing suicide. According to a poll of Parliamentarians by Ipsos Mori, their calls are finding support among MPs.

53% of the 100 MPs surveyed said they wanted doctors who helped their terminally ill and mentally sound patients die protected from prosecution. Members of the public are also becoming increasingly receptive to a change. The Times conducted a poll which revealed that three quarters of the public support allowing doctors to end the lives of terminally ill patients and six out of ten wanted close friends and relatives to end the suffering of their loved ones.

Sarah Wootton, chief executive for the Dignity in Dying pressure group, said that the poll was an “indication of change”, whilst a spokesman for Care, not Killing criticised the findings as unrepresentative and emphasised “the maximum amount of discretion needs to reside with the DPP in determining whether or not to prosecute.”

The fact that Starmer announced the guidelines is problematic. There is still opinion among MPs, doctors and voters that perceive assisted suicide to be wrong under any circumstances. It appears that it’s an incremental judicial intervention, rather than open debate by our elected representatives. Starmer did admit “time will tell” as to whether assisted suicides would rise.

Second thoughts should be given before supporting assisted suicide. Should there really be certainty that someone really is terminally ill when medicine is constantly evolving and improving? In the case of brain tumours, the charity I work for has striven to end the misapprehensions and ignorance about the disease. This proposal hinders that work since patients will fear that doctors will seek to end their workload by aiding their deaths and also encourage the view that they can’t conquer their illness and their lives are not worth living.