The Communist Party’s Executive Committee has issued the following statement in response to the upcoming vote on the End of Life (Terminally Ill Adults) Bill in Parliament, 27 November 2024:
This week MPs will vote on the End of Life (Terminally Ill Adults) Bill which aims to legalise medically assisted suicide for terminally ill adults.
This Bill has the potential to significantly change the landscape for end-of-life care in Britain and has divided the government, the labour movement and the left.
The Communist Party notes profound concerns expressed by disability rights groups, including Disabled People Against Cuts, about the potential of this legislation to place vulnerable adults at risk of being placed under pressure to end their lives.
These pressures may be social, driven by the lower value assigned to disabled lives in a profit-driven capitalist society, exacerbated by years of Conservative propaganda against “shirkers” that drove a rise in hate crimes against disabled people over the last decade. They may come from family or others who stand to gain from a person’s death (eg through inheritance), or lose from the cost of care for that person (if assets are swallowed up in care home fees). They may arise from pressures on an underfunded health and social care system in Britain, which most on the left acknowledge to be in crisis.
Pressures may be subtle or even subconscious, involving making an individual feel a burden on others over a period of time.
The legislation before Parliament includes supposed safeguards to prevent “pressure or coercion.” However, there is no mechanism for those tasked with assessing requests for assisted suicide to investigate whether “pressure” (which is not clearly defined) or coercion has taken place. The bullying of vulnerable adults at home and in care homes has been the subject of repeated scandals.
We note that campaign group Liberty, which is in favour of assisted dying in principle, has urged MPs to reject this Bill because it lacks robust safeguards to prevent abuse.
Examples of legalised assisted dying in other jurisdictions underline risks it poses in societies with underfunded healthcare systems and widespread poverty. In Canada in particular, poverty has been cited by applicants for assisted death who cannot afford adaptations to manage their conditions. Patients in Canada have reported being offered assisted suicide instead of treatment options, and even being accused of selfishness for not considering assisted suicide.
These risks are present in the Bill before Parliament, because it provides for assisted death to be suggested to patients by their doctor. In the current debate, voices from the Health Secretary to former prime minister Gordon Brown have raised the poor condition of palliative care in Britain, and the likelihood that those who feel life is unbearable under current circumstances might feel differently if appropriate palliative care was better funded and more universally available.
The pattern abroad also shows that eligibility criteria for assisted death widen after it has been legalised, with assisted death available for those with chronic (rather than terminal) conditions in Canada, and extending to children and mentally ill people in Belgium and the Netherlands.
The End of Life (Terminally Ill Adults) Bill is a private member’s Bill, which allows the government to remain neutral. However, this also avoids the level of scrutiny usually given to government legislation: there is no need for an Equality Impact Assessment to be carried out, for example. Legislation with such significant consequences for the health and social care system and the role of doctors and nurses should not be rushed through.
The Communist Party believes the legislation currently before Parliament poses a danger to chronically ill and disabled people.
Given this question is literally a matter of life and death, passing legislation with flaws and hoping to correct them later would be irresponsible. We urge MPs to reject the End of Life (Terminally Ill Adults) Bill at its second reading on Friday.
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For further information or to arrange an interview contact Johnnie Hunter, Communications Director, johnniehunter@communistparty.org.uk.