Opponents of assisted dying warn of the risks of new bill

Anti-euthanasia campaigners are urging their supporters “to be vigilant” in the face of the latest attempt by Lord Falconer to legalise assisted dying.’

A new bill due to be introduced by the peer in the House of Lords on Thursday was expected to be virtually identical to Lord Falconer’s last one, which ran out of debating time in the last session. It provides assistance for patients to end their life, subject to the approval of two doctors and a high court judge. 

Baroness (Sheila) Hollins, one of the leading opponents of the last bill, said Lord Falconer and his supporters wanted to bring in what they would argue was an “acceptable” form of euthanasia, which would in time be widened to include more situations.

One particular worry, she said, was the amount of money Lord Falconer and his supporters had to spend on their campaign to promote the bill, compared with the relative poverty of the anti-euthanasia campaigners.  

Both Baroness Hollins and Alistair Thompson of anti-euthanasia group Care Not Killing said Lord Falconer’s bill did not stand much chance of becoming law because of procedural issues in the Lords.

“But the risk is definitely greater than last time because it’s being introduced earlier on in the parliamentary session,” said Mr Thompson.

“We have to be vigilant, and we may have to mobilise all our supporters for a vote: at the moment it’s too soon to know the scale of the threat.”

Meanwhile another measure introduced into the Lords this week, the Palliative Care Bill, seeks to ensure that patients’ decisions about their end-of-life care are at the heart of their last weeks and days.

Baroness Finlay, who is sponsoring the bill, said it would require all relevant health and social care providers to be properly trained in palliative care.

She said that there was still more that could be done to ensure patients, families and carers  were properly looked after and supported.