Resistance to the push for 'assisted suicide' euthanasia is growing by the day. More than 3,400 doctors, nurses and other practitioners have warned the House of Commons against removing end-of-life protections for the vulnerable.
In an open letter to the Prime Minister organised by campaign group Our Duty of Care (ODOC), signatories expressed “great concern” at current proposals to legalise assisted suicide.
Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is due to be debated at the end of this month, and would allow those deemed to be terminally ill to receive help to kill themselves.
Highlighting how quickly pseudo-safeguards had been eroded in Canada, the medical professionals argued that it was “impossible for any Government to draft assisted suicide laws which include protection from coercion and from future expansion”.
Furthermore, the letter stated, the “shift from preserving life to taking life is enormous and should not be minimised.
“The prohibition of killing is present in all societies due to the immeasurable worth and inherent dignity of every human life. The prohibition of killing is the safeguard. The current law is the protection for the vulnerable.”
It continued: “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.”
The signatories, including former Welsh Chief Medical Officer Dame Deirdre Hine, 23 medical directors at hospices and NHS trusts, and dozens of medical professors, concluded by reminding the Prime Minister of their “legal duty of care for the safety and wellbeing of our patients”.