Assisted suicide in Great Britain : A controversial proposal
The British parliament is to examine a bill for assisted suicide on 29th November.
Submitted on 16th October 2024 by Kim Leadbeater, the labour MP, this bill will be put to a first vote in the House of Commons, equivalent to the French National Assembly.
It represents the first stage in a process which should extend over a relatively long period. Bills – as in France – are examined over a more limited period than would be the case if it were tabled by the government. They rarely reach the end of the legislative process to become law.
However, according to the British ballot bill process, the text could have enough time to succeed if it is not blocked at its second reading. Indeed, it appears among the first 10 MP bills to be examined during the new session of the British parliament. Following its first vote on 29th November to confirm or end the examination of the bill, the MPs could then submit amendments and adopt a text which would then be passed to the Chamber of Lords.
What does the bill contain?
Under the title “Terminally ill adults (End of Life) Bill”, the law for terminally sick adults at their end of life provides that any person wishing to end their life must:
• Be over 18 years of age, be resident in England or Wales and have been registered with a GP for at least 12 months;
• Have the mental ability to make a choice and be reputed to have expressed a clear wish, free of any constraints or pressure;
• Be suffering from a disease, an affliction or a health condition which is inevitably worsening and which cannot be cured by treatment and when death is predicted to occur within 6 months;
• Make two distinct certified and signed declarations, concerning his/her wish to die;
• Obtain two medical evaluations by two doctors with an interval of at least seven days between the evaluations.
The bill adopts the practice of assisted suicide: the person would self-administer the lethal product supplied by a doctor.
The final decision on the eligibility for assisted suicide would rest with a High Court judge after hearing at least one of the doctors. The judge could also interview the applicant or any other person considered to be relevant.
Assisted suicide could then only be executed after a minimum delay of 14 days following the decision by the judge.
The text specifies that a person cannot be considered as terminally ill if he/she is suffering from a mental illness or is handicapped. Doctors as well as all other health workers, including chemists, will be able to exercise their conscience clause in order to refuse their participation in the process. Pressurising or forcing someone to declare that they wish to end their life would be punishable by a 14-year prison sentence.
Currently, the law applicable in England and Wales is the 1961 Suicide Act, which prohibits any encouragement for suicide as well as its assistance. In 2015, a proposal to authorise assisted suicide in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, was widely rejected, by 300 votes to 118.
A lively debate across the channel
Sir Keir Starmer, the new labour Prime Minister has declared his support for the bill whilst at the same time ensuring the freedom of vote for the text. Among the promoters of the bill, ex-television presenter Esther Rantzen, who is very popular in Great Britain, is a powerful influencer. She herself has lung cancer, and has declared that she has contracted Dignitas in Switzerland to obtain a suicide in Switzerland if her treatment is unsuccessful.
Among its opponents, are the civil society associations, in particular those representing the handicapped or many health workers. According to Gordon MacDonald, the director of Care Not Killing, this bill is rushed and indecent at a time when the British NHS, and especially the availability of palliative care are failing. The priority is to reinforce palliative care, whereas one in four Britons have no access to it.
Moreover, on 23rd October, the Welsh Parliament voted against a motion calling for a new law to authorise medical assistance in dying in Wales and in England. That vote remains symbolic and does not interfere with the process being undertaken to examine the bill in the House of Commons, inasmuch as a bill on assisted suicide does not come under the sphere of competence of that assembly.
Concerning the other nations in the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland is not currently concerned and remains under the authority of the 1961 Suicide Act. A bill has been submitted by the Scottish Parliament. In view of the serious implications of the text both legally and medically, the Scottish government considers that it exceeds their sphere of competence and is calling for an upheaval of such nature to be debated by the British Parliament.
Finally, the isles of Man and Jersey, which are autonomous dependencies of the British Crown, are currently examining similar bills.
