Many figures in politics and the media have celebrated the defeat of the Assisted Sucide bill..
Writing in The Telegraph, non-affiliated Peer and former editor of The Spectator Lord (Charles) Moore said that the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill was “a victory for a society which cares for the vulnerable”.
Moore, who participated in many of the debates on the assisted suicide Bill in the House of Lords, detailed how he was impressed by the many people who spoke up “for those who could not do so”.
Despite claims from supporters of the assisted suicide Bill that the House of Lords acted inappropriately and the House of Commons came to the wrong decision, Moore rejected that characterisation, describing the process as “a counter example of Parliament working well”.
“This was the fourth unsuccessful attempt this century to allow people to get state help to kill themselves”, he added. “There cannot be another in this Parliament. Surely there should not be another in this generation”.
Baroness (Rosa) Monckton, a Conservative Peer and opponent of the assisted suicide Bill, agreed that both Houses of Parliament came together to defeat the legislation, saying, “We did our bit, and they did theirs”.
Writing in The Telegraph, Monckton shared that many people were battling against the assisted suicide Bill on behalf of people with Down’s syndrome, including her 31-year-old daughter, Domenica.
Monckton argued that people with Down’s syndrome or other learning disabilities, like Domenica, “could be easily coerced into making a life-or-death decision”.
She recalled that Damian Hinds MP, who is now the Shadow Health Secretary, tabled an amendment to the assisted suicide Bill designed to protect people with Down’s syndrome from the legislation; however, members of the Bill committee, including the Bill’s sponsor, Kim Leadbeater, voted down the amendment.
“Why? On what possible grounds? Such a lack of understanding and compassion is incomprehensible to me”, Monckton said.
She said that, when the Bill was rejected on Friday, she “felt overwhelming relief”, adding that she was “proud to play a small part in this”.
It was the viewpoint of The Telegraph itself, not just Monckton, that the House of Lords “did its job and prevented the Commons from rushing into enacting legislation that would have transformed the country”, arguing in its lead article that “the Lords have proved their worth”.