Assisted Dying Bill [HL]

Lord Suri Excerpts

Friday 16th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Purvis of Tweed]

This Bill is not redefining suicide; nor are we seeking to redefine suicide; nor is someone who comes down from Scotland every week saying that the legislation in the past in England and Wales was superior or inferior to the approach in Scotland, where suicide has never been criminalised. This is not a debate about that; it is a debate about those coming to the end of a terminal illness and their ability to control their final days. It is limited legislation. Opening it up to this wider aspect and all the associated aspects of wider suicide is not necessary. That is why, over the past 10 years, I have come to this clear conclusion.

[Lord Suri (Con)]

My Lords, we have spent enough time on terminology. As my noble friend Lord Tebbit said, the dictionary states that suicide is self-murder. I think it is more than that. It is a crime against the maker and nature, and we should abandon this terminology of suicide.

[Lord Carey of Clifton (CB)]

My Lords, I know we all feel very passionately about this matter. I do, intensely. There is a very clear distinction between the two terms, and it lies more in the area of psychology and meaning than anywhere else. In my ministry as a priest and as a bishop, I have dealt with suicidal people and in a number of cases they went on with the clear intention to end their life. I have sat with dying people who, if the law were available, would have ended their life by assisted suicide. There is a clear distinction between the two. I know the rational capacity of some of my friends who wanted to end their intense suffering. They were not suicidal at all; they were clearly determined to find a way for the sake of their loved ones as well as for themselves.

We have had a wonderful debate on this. I think it is time to end it by putting it to the test. I will reject the amendment.