Over 1,000 doctors sign letter against assisted suicide

Over a thousand doctors have come out strongly against the assisted suicide bill being considered for England and Wales. 

The doctors warn in a letter to MPs that Kim Leadbeater’s bill is “deeply flawed” and a “real threat to each patients and the medical workforce”.

The warning comes ahead of the third reading of The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in Westminster on Friday. 

The bill, which passed its first reading with a majority of 55 in November, would legalise assisted suicide for terminally sick adults in England and Wales who’ve been given six months or less to live. 

The letter raises “serious concerns” concerning the proposals, not least the accuracy of prognoses about life expectancy by doctors. 

It claims that Parliament has failed to offer enough consideration to the views of doctors and vulnerable groups who stand to be affected by the bill, including individuals with disabilities.

“This bill will widen inequalities, it provides inadequate safeguards and, in our collective view, is just not protected,” the doctors said. 

Signatories include geneticist Sir John Burn and Baroness Finlay, who’s a professional doctor and a consultant in palliative medicine. 

They argue that the bill “is just not the reply” to questions across the state of end of life care within the UK.

It is warned that poor people especially are more likely to feel pressured to decide on assisted suicide for reasons aside from their health. 

The doctors also argue that it will be difficult for medical professionals to discover coercion. 

“Vulnerable patients are liable to coercion with women, victims of domestic abuse, and the elderly at particular risk,” the letter says.

It adds, “People who struggle to pay for heating or care or want to preserve their assets for his or her children are at high risk of selecting to die if the choice is on the market and the choice is tougher.”