‘People are choosing between suicide, Switzerland or suffering’: Baroness Meacher makes plea to MPs

Terminally ill Brits are having to choose between ‘suicide, Switzerland or suffering’, MPs were told today. 

In a powerful plea to the Health and Social Care Committee, Baroness Meacher argued future generations would be ‘appalled’ at how long it has taken for laws on assisted dying to come close to changing.

Currently, helping someone take their own life is punishable with up to 14 years in prison.

But campaigners have for decades been pushing ministers to reconsider, wanting Britain to follow the likes of Australia and New Zealand in making it legal. 

Baroness Meacher was speaking during today’s first session of the Health and Social Care Committee’s inquiry into assisted dying.

In December, it was announced the Committee’s inquiry would examine ‘different perspectives’ in the often controversial and passionate debate, with a focus on the healthcare aspects. Today marked the first session of the inquiry

‘I’ve just spent my life really trying to listen to people’s needs, trying to reduce unbearable suffering and trying to protect vulnerable people,’ the former social care worker said.

‘At the moment, some people have to choose between suicide, suffering or Switzerland. 

Baroness Meacher added: ‘Future generations are going to be appalled that we’ve taken so long to put this right.’

In December, it was announced the Committee’s inquiry would examine ‘different perspectives’ in the often controversial and passionate debate, with a focus on the healthcare aspects.

Supporters of legalisation argue people should be able to help terminally ill loved ones who are experiencing great suffering to end their lives.

But a change in the law is opposed by many religious groups, who claim it would undermine the value society places on human life.

Baroness Meacher, who chairs the UK campaigning organisation, Dignity in Dying, also told the committee: ‘If we think of patient autonomy, for many years polls and surveys have shown that the huge majority of British people want an assisted dying law. 

‘They want an assisted dying law for people who are terminally ill and who are mentally competent. It’s very clear that it where the support lies.

‘We know that choices and control at the end of life will bring tremendous comfort to dying people relieving unbearable suffering.’ 

She added: ‘Terminal illness brings unbearable suffering in various forms. Obviously uncontrollable physical pain is one such form.’

Other forms include ‘endless nausea and vomiting’ or a ‘fumigating tumour creating the most appalling odour that the patient cannot get away from’, she said. 

‘Or the complete and utter loss of the ability to move maybe because of motor neurone disease,’ she added. 

‘These patients at the end of life are unable to swallow, to speak, to eat, to drink. They are existing, they’re not living. We all want more and better palliative care, of course we do. 

‘But however good palliative care is, it will not be able to eliminate the unbearable suffering of many of these people.’

Over the past 13 years, there have been 200 cases of assisted dying or assisted suicide referred to the Crown Prosecution Service by the police, with four successful prosecutions.

Some form of assisted dying or assisted suicide is legal in at least 27 jurisdictions worldwide. 

In the UK, Dignity in Dying, is campaigning for a law allowing assisted dying. In contrast to euthanasia and assisted suicide – helping another person to die by suicide, assisted dying would apply to terminally ill people only. 

It became legal in Canada in 2015, in the Netherlands in 2001, and in the US state of Oregon in 1994. 

Baroness Meacher also told MPs there are currently ‘no safeguards or regulations’ in place in the UK to protect vulnerable people from coercion to shorten their life.  

‘An assisted dying bill will introduce really strong safeguards involving two doctors of course and a succession of interviews with patients to make sure they really have a sustained wish for help to die and interviews with relatives to check their motives too,’ she added.  

‘But what about healthcare professionals? My daughter is a doctor. I’m very conscious of the historical issues around assisted dying for doctors in particular and nurses,’ she said. 

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, Lord Falconer of Thoroton and Baroness Hollins also appeared alongside Baroness Meacher in front of MPs this morning

Baroness Meacher was speaking during today’s first session of the Health and Social Care Committee’s inquiry into assisted dying. It was chaired by Steve Brine, pictured above 

‘But of course the medical profession has changed tremendously over recent years. 

She added: ‘The British Medical Association (BMA) and Royal College of Physicians are now neutral having consulted their members.’ 

But a 2020 BMA survey of almost 30,000 of its members also found 45 per cent (13,061) would not be willing to participate in any way in the process if the law changed on prescribing drugs for eligible patients to self-administer to end their own life. 

It comes as new figures released earlier this month by Dignitas – the not-for-profit organisation assisting patients with a ‘self-determined end of life’ – revealed there were 1,528 members from Great Britain at the end of 2022. 

This has risen from 821 in 2012.

Some 33 people from the UK had an assisted death at Dignitas in 2022 – up on 23 people the year before. 

Asked later by conservative MP Chris Green, a member of the committee, whether there was scope for assisted dying criteria to open up in five or ten years time once a bill is passed, Baroness Meacher responded: ‘The majority of jurisdictions that have passed laws on assisted dying have done so restricted to terminally ill people who are mentally competent. 

She added: ‘Not a single one of those jurisdictions has broadened the scope from the initial scope. 

‘That is incredibly competent because that is what I believe will be the case in the UK. 

‘We are a highly disciplined country. That is the route I believe we will follow. 

‘We will have a narrow route for terminally ill people who are medically competent and it will remain thus.’

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, Lord Falconer of Thoroton and Baroness Hollins also appeared in front of MPs this morning. 

Baroness Finlay, a palliative care physician, who has long shared opposing views on the introduction of an assisted dying bill and its criteria told the committee: ‘I had a patient back in 1991 who was desperate for euthanasia. Four of us thought his prognosis was three months.’ 

She added: ‘I said I would try and relieve his symptoms and he said he would give me two weeks before he killed himself.

‘Eleven years later, he phoned me because his wife was dying. She died in my care with his children at her bedside and him in a wheelchair. He is still alive today. 

‘This is just an example of how wrong you can be. I have had many conversations with patients where they’ve said “I never believed I that could feel so much better again”.

‘The one thing that palliative care and assisted dying have in common is that they are very poorly understood and that’s a real problem.’

New figures released earlier this month show as of the end of December, there were 1,528 members of Dignitas from Great Britain, according to figures from the not-for-profit organisation, which assists dying patients with a ‘self-determined end of life’. This has risen from 821 in 2012. Some 33 people from the UK had an assisted death at Dignitas in 2022 – up on 23 people the year before

Discussing clinicians ability to assess the capacity of patients, Baroness Finlay also later raised concerns over the spread of misinformation. 

‘You have to look at the balance. How safe is safe enough?’ she said.

‘The evidence from other countries is that there will be some people who die when actually their death is based on the wrong information. The information they had in making that choice was misinformation and that’s the problem.’

She added: ‘I think you also have to look at what is the acceptable number of unacceptable deaths through error and decide that if you’re making a law that allows doctors or anyone else to give lethal drugs to patients at their request. 

‘It is a balance of harms and we have a duty to the most vulnerable in society not only to the most vocal in society.’

The government has stated it is for parliament to decide on the issue. 

In 2015, MPs voted overwhelmingly — by 300 votes to 118 — against changing the law to allow doctors to help terminally ill people end their lives.

A private member’s bill on assisted dying was also introduced by Baroness Meacher in May 2021.

It received its second reading in the House of Lords, but failed to progress before the end of the parliamentary session. 

Meanwhile, last September in Scotland, Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur lodged the final proposal to introduce a Member’s Bill which would legalise assisted dying for people who are terminally ill, though no date has been given yet for when this might be considered.

A public consultation on a Private Member’s Bill on assisted dying closed on the Isle of Man at the end of January.

A consultation on assisted dying proposals also took place in Jersey between October 2022 and January and publication of a consultation feedback report is expected in April.