Assisted Dying Bill [HL]

Earl of Glasgow Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 22nd October 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Glasgow (LD)]

My Lords, I have long been one of the group campaigning to see assisted suicide made legal in this country. In spite of the recent orchestrated campaign and the many emails we have all received against the Bill, I am certain that the desire of the country to see this realised is getting even stronger.

One thing that has always worked against us are the words “assisted dying”. We should be more specific and call it “assisted dying for the terminally ill”, because that is what we mean. We do not wish to assist those with some forms of depression or those simply tired of life. Such people may well have problems, but we certainly do not want to help them to die. We are concerned only with those who have been diagnosed as terminally ill; in other words, to relieve the distress or agony of those who are shortly going to die anyway.

Our opponents like to call it assisted suicide, but it has nothing to do with suicide. If you are given the choice of being kept alive for several more months in physical and/or mental distress, unable to take part in anything you enjoy, or, alternatively, to die sooner, in your own home, with some dignity, and with members of your own family around you, and you decide the latter option, how can that be classed as suicide?

We should not fear death; it is inevitably going to come to all of us—maybe sooner rather than later to many of us in this House. On the other hand, we may well fear the manner of our death and how it will affect those who love us. If assisted dying were made legal, we would at least have some say in the manner of our death. Of course, some will choose or accept it, others will want palliative care and others will allow God to decide, but for the first time, assisted dying would be a legal option. Why are there so many who want to deny us that particular option?

It is important to emphasise yet again that in the proposed Bill the only person who can request assisted death is the patient himself or herself. Yet opponents suggest that wicked or selfish relatives will take the opportunity of putting pressure on poor old granny to put herself down, persuading her she has become a burden to the family. I think this is extremely unlikely and will occur very rarely. Most family members want to keep their aged relatives alive for much longer than they themselves do; besides, the fact that two independent doctors and a High Court judge must approve the decision should surely be safeguard enough against such exploitation.

It may be necessary to make further amendments to the Bill to satisfy the concerns and fears of those who still have reasonable reservations. For instance, we may need a more precise definition of the words “terminally ill” and of when and how it can be judged. We may need to redefine “mental capacity.” It is so important that the principle of assisted dying for the terminally ill be understood and agreed and become part of British law. How much longer can we tolerate reports of intelligent people feeling compelled to travel to Switzerland to achieve an end they could much more easily, happily and less distressingly achieve in this country?