A new poll has found that most people in the United Kingdom (UK) have serious concerns about the effect of the assisted suicide bill currently under debate.
The poll, released by Focaldata, surveyed over 5,000 people about assisted suicide. The vast majority expressed support for the bill, and many expressed support for assisted suicide even under disturbing circumstances. Even when posed scenarios like rapid expansion of assisted suicide, the government using it to save money and reductions in palliative care spending, and choosing death solely because a person feels like a burden or because they cannot afford care, respondents still said they would support legalization. Even with the knowledge that the majority of palliative care doctors oppose assisted suicide, the majority of responded said they still support it.
Yet cracks in the façade began to form.
Almost three-quarters of respondents agreed there should be a Royal Commission formed to examine palliative and end-of-life care before legalizing assisted suicide. Over half agreed that assisted suicide discriminates against the poor, that the current state of health care in the UK would push people towards assisted suicide, and that they are not confident the government will be able to afford their end-of-life care in the future. Over two-thirds said the country should focus on ensuring that palliative, social, and end-of-life care is in good shape before legalizing assisted suicide.
READ: Prior to vote, some already pushing for broadening of UK assisted suicide bill
Members of Parliament (MPs) recently voted in favor of the bill to legalize assisted suicide, and MPs will now need to wade through over 200 proposed amendments before another vote will be held on those amendments. Both houses of Parliament will then need to vote in favor of the bill for it to become law.
Medical experts have spoken strongly against legalizing assisted suicide, including a group of over 3,000 who signed a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressing their opposition. They warned that the bill will lead to people being pressured into dying, particularly due to the current state of the NHS, which they described as “broken.”
“The NHS is broken, with health and social care in disarray. Palliative care is woefully underfunded and many lack access to specialist provision. The thought of assisted suicide being introduced and managed safely at such a time is remarkably out of touch with the gravity of the current mental health crisis and pressures on staff,” the letter said, adding, “Any change would threaten society’s ability to safeguard vulnerable patients from abuse; it would undermine the trust the public places in physicians; and it would send a clear message to our frail, elderly and disabled patients about the value that society places on them as people.”
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