Scores of experts lineup against assisted dying bill

Leading academic experts in the fields of health, end-of-life care and the legal system have joined together to sign an open letter opposing the assisted dying bill which MPs are due to debate on Friday.

- DAVID MADDOX

The bill tabled by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater would for the first time allow for the NHS to assist people to take their own lives.

Ms Leadbeater and supporters of the legislation claim the bill would provide the “strictest safeguards anywhere in the world” to prevent the system being abused and ensure it only applied to terminally ill patients.

Among these are that any requests to end life would need to be signed off by two doctors and a judge. However, in an open letter to MPs the 73 academics have fuelled concerns that the safeguards are not strong enough and could open the doors for coercion of the vulnerable to end their own lives.

This follows concerns raised by 11-time Paralympic gold medallist and now member of the House of Lords, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson in a devastating intervention in The Independent last week. Her concerns were echoed by Liberty and the former head of the family court division.

The academics say Ms Leadbeater’s private member’s bill is “an inadequate parliamentary process for an issue of such ethical and legal complexity”. They also wrote that the central argument in favour of the change of the law, on the need to provide choice, “is too simplistic”.

The letter warned: “Laws must be concerned for the safety of the whole population, especially the most vulnerable." It also noted that "research has shown that a person's stated wish to die is frequently unstable and depends on the care and support they receive".