In June 2017, Colin Campbell was as a result of die at Swiss euthanasia clinic Dignitas.
He had been scuffling with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) since 1995, but his outlook on life modified when after living alone in a second floor flat and losing mobility, he began to feel like a prisoner in his own residence. As he slowly lost contact with friends and suffered from other poor health outcomes, Colin decided to finish his life.
Everything modified for Colin when he met Rona. Rona also has MS and will see that Colin simply wasn’t getting the assistance and support he needed to live a full and independent life. She went out of her approach to help him secure the social support that he needed – higher living conditions and even a mobility scooter to assist him get out and about.
With these improvements to his life, not to say the social connections he now enjoyed, Colin selected to not undergo together with his scheduled death at Dignitas. Reflecting on his change of mind, Rona commented: “He didn’t must die; he needed support.”
Colin’s story is a reminder of the difficulties that disabled people face each day, how these difficulties can result in feelings of despair and anguish, and the way such feelings could be alleviated when authorities uphold their duty to supply proper services, equipment, and social interaction to assist disabled people flourish.
The government’s decision to make cuts to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and Universal Credit (UC) was alarming for disabled people and the groups that advocate for them. Particularly after the vote just twelve days earlier to progress the assisted suicide Bill – a policy that disabled people’s organisations across the UK staunchly oppose. These votes create an anxiety-laden atmosphere for individuals who are more depending on the state for support.
Whilst there are arguments for reform to the welfare system, disabled people’s organisations warn of an ideal storm of a depleted welfare system and state-assisted suicide. Many disabled people must fight tooth and nail for the support that permits them to live. In the context of an assisted suicide law, hopeless and worn-down residents who lack the support and solidarity they deserve may resign themselves to death. This thought should alarm everyone who hopes for a more just society.
One of the precise functions of the PIP system is to supply funding to pay for the heightened costs of life as a disabled person – extra equipment, higher energy bills, etc. Restricting access to this funding signifies that disabled people across the country will lose the power to pay for the essential resources that make their lives more livable.
The assisted suicide Bill because it stands comprises no requirement for physical suffering to be present to make an individual eligible for an assisted death. What’s more, the Commons voted down an amendment that may have ensured that individuals scuffling with mental ailing health, disabled people, and other people who feel like a burden don’t qualify for assisted death. As such, disabled people will give you the option to use and get approved for assisted suicide even when their sole motivation is that they’re lonely, unsupported, or feeling like a strain on others – a sense that losing access to PIP payments could directly encourage.
The Pathfinders Neuromuscular Alliance shared stories of its members’ experiences with health and social care services. One person reported that their doctor had asked them ‘have you ever got any idea how much you cost the NHS?’. As unpleasant because it is to give it some thought, there are individuals who’d apply pressure to a disabled one who’s eligible for assisted death.
It is beyond doubt that the disabled people’s community is in danger from cuts to disability advantages coupled with the legalisation of assisted suicide. The experience of disabled Canadians corresponding to Christine Gauthier illustrates the danger of legislating for assisted death in a context of social inequality.
In 2022, the Canadian Paralympian and veteran was offered Medical Assistance in Dying as an alternative choice to waiting for a wheelchair lift to be installed in her house. She reported being told, “in case you’re so desperate, madam, we will give you MAID”. Societal stigma towards disabled people – the concept they’re a burden on the state, for instance – doesn’t disappear when euthanasia is legalized. Injustices are only compounded.
Given the dearth of access to disability equipment we will now expect for brand new claimants, it shouldn’t be difficult to assume cases like Christine Gauthier’s within the UK in years to return. This is one reason why decisions made in recent weeks are a travesty. There continues to be time for parliamentarians to reassess. We’re praying that they may defend the reason behind probably the most needy (Psalm 82:3) and vote to guard life.
Jack Lawther is a policy officer on the social policy charity CARE.
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