Assisted Dying Bill [HL]

Baroness Stroud Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 22nd October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stroud (Con)]

My Lords, I deeply respect the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, and particularly her desire to reduce suffering—

[Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury (CB)]

I think it was my go next.

[Baroness Stroud (Con)]

My apologies.

[Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury (CB)]

I thank the noble Baroness for that introduction. Like the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mance, I was one of the judges in the Supreme Court Nicklinson case. The more I considered the extensive facts and the arguments, the clearer it became to me as judge that it was inappropriate, at least at that stage, for the courts to seek to force Parliament to change the law on assisted suicide and the clearer it became to me as citizen that Parliament should change the law.

There are many important human rights but, in the end, they can all be encapsulated in a single, overriding right which has been referred to more than once today: the right to personal autonomy. Personal autonomy has no more important aspect than the right to control your very existence. It is your life to deal with as you see fit. If you want to end your life, you are entitled to do so, and if you have a fundamental right to end your life, you must require very powerful reasons why you should be denied assistance if you need to exercise that right and cannot do it without assistance. When you hear of heartrending experiences, such as those of the noble Baroness, Lady Symons, and the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, the principal justification for the right to be assisted if you wish to kill yourself is reinforced by considerations of humanity.

The case for the Bill is also supported by the way that we permit richer people who can afford it to be taken abroad to achieve an assisted death. It is supported by the fact that we freely allow people to refuse treatment. It is supported by the way in which we deal with suffering animals, and by the excellent point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Davidson, about medical intervention and the start of life. It is also supported by the public.

The contrary argument, and the only one, I have to say, that resonates with me, is the risk of abuse. All freedoms can be abused, and we deal with that not by removing the freedoms but by legislating against the abuse. The Bill provides for full protection and if, as some have suggested, it is not full enough or could be improved, the Bill can be amended; it should not be ended. The fact that there will be occasional abuses, as there always are in a free society, is far outweighed by the enormous amount of suffering, relatively speaking, that will be ended if the Bill becomes law.

I will end with two brief points. First, I do not read Clause 4(4)(c) as permitting a third party to administer the killing medicine. If it does so provide, it can be amended. Finally, there has been a suggestion that this is inappropriate for judges. Three former senior judges, including myself, have so far spoken in this debate and supported the Bill, which speaks for itself. The noble Lord, Lord Wilson, a highly experienced family judge, supported the involvement of judges in our judgment in the Nicklinson case. Judges are called as a matter of principle and practice to decide on difficult, sensitive cases. It is fitting that they should be involved in this exercise. I support the Bill.

[Baroness Stroud (Con)]

My Lords, I still deeply respect the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, and particularly her desire to reduce suffering, but I speak against this Bill, to represent those whose voices cannot be heard in this place today: the terminally ill, the frail and the vulnerable. In all my time as a Member of this House, like so many noble Lords, my inbox has never been as full as it is now, with people asking me to vote against this Bill.

There are many who have spoken of the technicalities of this Bill, but in my three minutes I want to speak on how this issue speaks directly to the heart, values and character of our nation, who we are as a people, what we value and what we prioritise. For generations we have stood on the principle that all people, regardless of what they can contribute and regardless of their level of need or dependence, are of infinite value. It is one of the foundation stones of our nation and heritage. We speak passionately in this House in defence of the poorest, the elderly, children and those who are the sickest, because of their intrinsic and infinite value. This is one of the things that is at the core of who we are as a nation.

I therefore cannot support this Bill, because it goes against the heart of the British people. This heart was beautifully demonstrated during the pandemic. As a nation, in spite of the huge personal and collective cost, we supported the decision to shut down the economy, to work from home and to take our children out of school. Why? To protect our most vulnerable. If ever we needed a reminder of the heart of the British people, it has been this time. The British people responded by doing whatever it took to safeguard the weakest in society, and it is this heart that I am deeply proud of.

This Bill is also against our values: how we give value to each human being, what we value, what we honour, and what we give space and time to, and protect. The availability of euthanasia would put implicit pressure on the sick and the elderly, who are all too conscious of the demands they put on their relatives. Many people at the end of life are concerned that they might become a burden to others.

Although the proposed legislation states that the request for suicide should come from the patient, in the highly regulated nature of medical care in the UK, once assisted suicide legislation is enacted it is likely that doctors would be instructed to make sure that all of their terminally ill patients were aware that assisted suicide was an option. Assisted suicide would be added to the list of treatment options. How many vulnerable people would perceive the option of medical suicide as a duty? If there is no possibility of termination, then I do not need to justify my desire to continue living. But once life termination becomes a treatment option, I need to provide some justification for my desire to continue to live. This Bill is against the values of our nation.