On the eve of the parliamentary debate on the Assisted Suicide Bill, the disabled members of UCU, the lecturers trade union, debated the bill in a very constructive debate. MPs may have voted in favour of giving the Assisted Dying Bill its second reading on Friday but this has not ended the debate, if anything it has kick started a debate on end of life support - palliative care - as well as now focussing MPS minds on the need for more and stronger safeguards in the Bill.
I think that we are all aware that the Assisted Dying Bill is continuing to generate a lot of headlines and there is a huge and well-organised campaign in support of it.
No one should pretend that this is an easy or simple debate, because it isn’t?
If you are following the media coverage the focus of concern about the Bill is whether there are adequate safeguards in place to protect vulnerable people including the disabled. This is also my focus of concern.
If you ask why am I concerned? Let me tell you. I have had 2 experiences of family members going into hospital and having Do Not Resuscitate or DNR notices posted on their notes without their knowledge or consent. You may think this is minor but I disagree. If a health professional can place a DNR Notice above a patients bed without their knowledge or consent what else could they get wrong?
In view of my experiences, isn’t there a danger that if the Assisted Dying Bill became law that the pressure to not only continue to issue DNRs but the pressure to increase the number of DNRs would lead to many people being pressured into agreeing to die or having DNR notices applied without their knowledge or consent?
When someone is told that they only have 6 months left to live how confident can we be that the projection is 100% accurate and couldn’t possibly be wrong?
Could the diagnosis could be wrong?
Let us remember if a mistake is made then it is irreversible. Once the person is dead they cannot be brought back to life!
Let us remember that:
People with terminal conditions are Disabled by definition.
Disabled people make up nearly one in four of the population and we die too. We are more likely to live in pain, to die early and to die from preventable illnesses.
Disabled people are disproportionately reliant on public services including the NHS, social care support and mental health support services – services that are broken and which we urgently need fixed. We are also concerned that terminally ill Disabled people will apply for assistance to end their lives early due to a lack of adequate support to live.
Disabled people are more likely to live in poverty and deprivation. 300 people die in poverty every single day in the UK. We are concerned that terminally ill Disabled people will apply for assistance to end their lives early by reason of poverty.
The most common reasons behind assisted suicide in the State of Oregon in the USA are not pain – pain is only cited in around one third of cases – but lack of autonomy, not being able to enjoy the same activities and feeling a burden. These are all reasons linked to disability.
The wording of the bill is open to inclusion of people with anorexia as occurs now in US States where assisted suicide is legalised. We already have a working definition of terminal anorexia within our mental health services here.
Disabled people are at risk of medical coercion not to continue with our lives linked to quality of life judgements. We have extensive lived experience of this through pressure to agree to DNRs (by no means limited to during the pandemic) and the Liverpool Care Pathway. The unequal value placed on our lives results in unequal access to healthcare services including life saving treatment. We are concerned that doctors will suggest assisted suicide as an option to Disabled people with terminal illness based on quality of life judgements and that this will be experienced as a form of coercion whether intended or otherwise.
Disabled people are more likely to experience coercive control. We are three times more likely to experience domestic abuse. Disabled people who are terminally ill are more at risk from inadequate safeguards in the bill.
Once passed, the legislation will be open to expansion to cover Disabled people and those deemed to be “incurably suffering”. Evidence from other countries shows Disabled people seeking assisted suicide without access to adequate support and treatment and for socio-economic reasons.
One thing that we learnt through the Covid Pandemic was that many disabled people died because they were treated as dispensable and as lesser human beings.
During the coverage of the Assisted Suicide Bill the point has been made, and it has resonated with me, is that the Government should focus on assisting disabled people to live rather than putting pressure on them to accept assisted suicide.
The motion debated and supported by UCU's Disabled Members called for Kim Leadbeater MP to withdraw her bill to:
allow a more thorough and comprehensive examination of all the issues around assisted suicide.
set up a Royal Commission to report before any legislation is introduced
I personally think that a lot more scrutiny is needed of this bill because we need to remember if a mistake is made then it is irreversible. Once the person is dead they cannot be brought back to life!
We need to have an open and honest debate about Assisted Suicide to ensure that all the necessary safeguards are in place.
Assisted Suicide Bill Motion
Below is the Motion that was debated and supported at the UCU Disabled members Conference last Thursday. In fairness, I should point out that, even though a lot more people voted For the Motion than Against it, the number of abstentions was slightly larger than the number voting in Favour:
This Conference notes
the introduction of the Assisted Dying Bill into Parliament which would be better described as the Assisted Suicide Bill
the introduction of the Assisted Dying Bill into Parliament, which would be better described as the Assisted Suicide Bill
that there has been no public consultation with disabled people and disability groups whatsoever
that during the COVID-19 pandemic Disabled people were unjustly subjected to Do Not Resuscitate orders without their consent
that the views of disabled people, who are most likely to be the victims of assisted suicide, have to be clearly heard and given due weight
This Conference calls on the General Secretary and NEC to support the calls from DDPOs for:
Kim Leadbeater MP to withdraw her bill to
allow a more thorough and comprehensive examination of all the issues around assisted suicide.
set up a Royal Commission to report before any legislation is introduced
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