Elderly and vulnerable people could feel a ‘covert pressure’ to end their lives if assisted suicide is legalised, a former supreme court judge warned yesterday.
Lord Sumption cautioned that changing the law could be a ‘disservice’ to the old, infirm or disabled – but said he still believed the ‘risk’ would be worth taking.
MPs are facing fresh pressure to look again at the law on assisted dying after an impassioned plea by Dame Esther Rantzen.
Sir Keir Starmer has said he supports a change in the law, opening the door to parliamentary time being granted for new legislation to be debated if Labour take office.
Westminster last considered a bid to enable the terminally ill to be provided with medically supervised assistance to end their own life eight years ago.
Lord Sumption cautioned that changing the law could be a ‘disservice’ to the old, infirm or disabled – but said he still believed the ‘risk’ would be worth taking
Since then, however, campaigners in favour of changing the law argue that public opinion has shifted and assisted dying has been legalised in several other countries.
But Lord Sumption said there was a ‘serious counter argument’, even though he would probably support a change in the law.
‘I think that the real issue here is not about the merits or demerits of assisted suicide – it’s a question of the power of the state,’ he said. ‘Does the state have the moral right to intervene in such an intensely personal and agonising issue?
‘My instinct on balance [is that]… if I were a member of the House of Lords I would probably vote for it.’
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he added: ‘The counter argument is that we would be doing a disservice to many vulnerable people who would feel under pressure to end their lives early because of the negative view that we take about old age, infirmity and disability.
‘Even if there was no pressure brought to bear on them by relatives and friends, people tend to feel they have become a burden towards the end of their lives and they might be under this kind of covert pressure to do so.
‘I have come to the conclusion, by a pretty narrow margin, we should take that risk, but I don’t pretend the issue is at all easy.’
The Dignitas assisted suicide clinic located in Pfaffikon, Zurich, Switzerland
His concerns were echoed by Baroness Finlay, a crossbench peer and professor of palliative medicine.
‘There’s an irony here: Esther Rantzen did Silver Line [a helpline for the elderly], and she knows how much elder abuse there is in this country,’ she said. ‘It’s estimated that one in five people over the age of 65 have been affected by abuse – that’s a pretty worrying figure.
‘And you can see in a family, it’s not direct coercion, it’s the ‘I can’t pay for you to go to the swimming club because we’ve got the electricity bill to keep grandma warm’.
‘What does that make grandma feel? It makes her think ‘I’m a burden… they’d be better off without me’.
‘And when you look at the data from Oregon [where it has been legal for terminally ill, mentally competent adults to have an assisted death since 1997], being a burden is really high up on the list. Pain, and fear of pain in the future, is low down on the list.’
Assisted suicide is banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum jail term of 14 years. In Scotland, it is not a specific criminal offence but can lead to murder charges.
Legislation is being put forward by Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur, with the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill due to come before Holyrood next year.
The Commons health and social care committee is due to report on assisted dying and assisted suicide in England and Wales after launching an inquiry in December 2022.