Leadbeater's high court U-turn is just the beginning. We must ditch the assisted dying bill before it spirals out of control

12 February 2025, 13:48 | Updated: 14 February 2025, 16:41

Yesterday’s announcement that a key safeguard, scrutiny of a high court judge, would be scrapped is not just deeply worrying but also puts a sword to the lie that changing the law can be done safely.

Approval by the High Court was sold to members of the public and our elected representatives in Parliament as making the proposed legislation the ‘safest in the world’. However, because of fears that the court system would be unable to cope, this important measure is being ditched.

Instead, a secretive panel of ill-defined makeup and expertise, but with known support of so-called assisted dying, will be tasked with making the life-or-death decision.

There would be no transparency, and astonishingly, unlike the judicial process it's replacing, there would be no legal requirement to hear arguments from an applicant’s family, carer, or doctor if they have concerns.

This announcement blindsided MPs, many of whom already had concerns about the legislative process. Just two weeks ago, the suggestion that this key safeguard would be scrapped was vehemently denied.

But its removal should come as no surprise. This is the truth: in every jurisdiction that has legalised assisted suicide or euthanasia, over time, safeguards are eroded and the eligibility criteria expanded.

In the US state of Oregon, the model for this legislation shows that only one in 25 people now receive a psychiatric assessment. This is even though up to 80 per cent of those who receive a terminal diagnosis will suffer from treatable clinical depression, and a majority of those who end their lives cite the fear of being a burden on their families, finances, or carers as a reason for their request to end their lives.

While the law was presented to the public as being for those dying of cancer, it has been expanded to include insulin-dependent diabetes and eating disorders such as anorexia.

In some places, the removal of safeguards has gone even further to include disabled people, non-mentally competent adults, those with mental health problems, and even children.

This is why the safest law is the one we currently have. We urge MPs to ditch this dangerous bill and instead concentrate on fixing the UK’s broken palliative care system.

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Alistair Thompson is a spokesperson for Care Not Killing.

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