The government should amend the euthanasia law so that people “do not have to choose between suicide, suffering or Switzerland,” MPs said.
During the first Health Committee investigation into euthanasia/assisted suicide, we heard from colleagues who were involved in the matter, including those who were trying and opposing the legislation in the House of Lords.
When asked why she supports changing the law, Baroness Meacher, a former social worker who is also Dignity in the Chair of the Dying, told MPs: “I have spent my life listening to people’s needs, alleviating suffering and trying to protect vulnerable people.
“Some people now have to choose between suicide, suffering or Switzerland. Future generations will be shocked that it took so long to fix this.
“Over the years, polls and opinion polls have shown that the vast majority of Britons want euthanasia law, 86 percent of people with disabilities want it, people who are terminally ill and mentally capable – very clearly.
“That’s what support is all about, both for able-bodied people and people with disabilities. We know that choice at the end of life is a great comfort to the dying.”
Euthanasia refers to the participation of medical professionals in the delivery of lethal drugs intended to end the life of a patient, at their voluntary request, subject to eligibility criteria and safeguards.
This includes medical professionals who prescribe lethal drugs for self-administration, “physician-assisted suicide”, and medical professionals who administer lethal drugs, “euthanasia”.
It is a felony in England and Wales to help or abet someone to commit suicide under the Suicide Act 1961. Euthanasia is illegal in the UK under the Homicide Act 1957 and can be prosecuted as murder or manslaughter.
In November 2021, Jersey became the first UK Parliament to allow assisted suicide following a vote in the Channel Islands Assembly.
The Health Commission is also looking at the extent to which people in England and Wales have access to quality palliative care, how it can be improved and whether this improvement would undermine some of the arguments for amending the Death Care Act.
The commission is also investigating which countries have already changed the law to allow euthanasia. Chairman Steve Russell said the committee received “tens of thousands” of responses to its investigation into the matter.
Lord Falconer, a former Lord Chancellor who tried to legalize euthanasia with a special law in 2013, told MPs he was “personally connected to someone who died” when there was only “a defocused increase” towards the end of their lives. left. …on her internal suffering, where death was absolutely inevitable and where it was quite clear that her euthanasia would undoubtedly be the best way out, but it was impossible. Thus passed a long time when there was much suffering for her and much suffering for those who loved her.
Lord Falconer said the experience with the former health worker was the beginning of his campaign to change the euthanasia law. He also said that while the woman had “quality” care at the end of her life, palliative care “should be better for everyone.”
He added: “There is an urgent need to improve palliative care,” but this does not meet the needs of some people who want to end their lives sooner.
Lord Falconer said precautions must be taken and the proposal of euthanasia “would be the safest route to an earlier death because it is safer than stopping your own treatment or having the hospital decide you don’t want treatment.”
He described the current situation as “such a mess” as people are allowed to be helped to travel abroad, usually to Switzerland, but are researching loved ones of the deceased when they return to the UK. “It’s a hellish experience,” he told deputies. “The law itself recognizes this and I think it’s time for a change.”
Baroness Hollins, a teaching-disabled professor of psychiatry at St George’s Hospital in London, said her work on “death education” revealed a fear of “always” talking about death.
She told deputies: “There is no proper education in the field of death in our society. They are driven by fear. This is one of the major reasons [for my involvement in the assisted dying campaign]. I personally wish for a much more acceptable conversation about death, that is, for us to recognize that this is what will happen to all of us. This is a normal process, and the more we talk about it, the more likely it is that people will be able to get the help they need when they die, so that they can die in comfort with family and friends around them without all the fear associated with it. . about euthanasia.
Baroness Finlay said she taught the subject in schools through the charity she founded, Books Beyond Words.
“It was great to talk to the kids who were being robbed. About every 20 minutes a parent dies—there is at least one child in every class who has lost a parent—but teachers don’t like to talk about death. And we tried to introduce ways to do it,” she told the deputies.
Source: I News
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