Vulnerable people not at risk from proposed assisted dying law, says MP
The lives of disabled and vulnerable people will not be at risk from a proposed assisted dying law because it will only apply to terminally ill adults, and each case is likely to be ruled on by two doctors and a judge, the MP sponsoring it has said.
Kim Leadbeater said her historic “choice at the end of life” bill will include “stringent” criteria and a cooling-off period in what is likely to be one of the most controversial pieces of legislation to go before parliament in years.
But people who are facing intolerable suffering but are not dying will still be denied medical assistance to end their lives, under the likely terms of the bill to be introduced on Wednesday.
That decision will prompt debate over whether the threshold for medical assistance to die should relate to suffering rather than time left to live.
Some campaigners argue people whose conditions mean they can be trapped and suffering in their bodies long before they meet a narrow definition of terminal illness will be left out.
A major poll has suggested most of the public support an assisted dying law in every constituency of Great Britain apart from Bradford West.
Source: The Guardian, 16 October 2024