Assisted Suicide Threat to Anorexics

The assisted suicide bill is a serious threat to patients with anorexia nervosa, an MP has warned.

Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney, who sits on the committee selected to scrutinise the backbench MP’s Bill, said it will allow vulnerable people with eating disorders to ask for medical help to kill themselves.

The MP for Richmond Park voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in November, and wrote to her constituents that “the worst possible outcome” in framing the legislation “would be a flawed bill that potentially puts vulnerable people at risk”.

Under the Bill, a terminally ill person must possess “the capacity to make a decision to end their own life”. It  also states that “references to a person having capacity are to be read in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005”.

But Olney, who is calling for it to be amended, told The Guardian: “The Mental Capacity Act is not designed to enable people to make a decision about ending their own life”.

She added: “As the Royal College of Psychiatrists have pointed out, people could have a co-occurring mental disorder which impacts their decision and still be considered to have capacity.”

By replacing “capacity with a functional test of ability”, Olney hoped it would be possible “to protect those suffering from eating disorders” who may be unable to “fully understand the nature of their decision” to request assisted suicide.