Speakers at the event unanimously rejected the Assisted Dying Bill and the concept of the ‘right to die’, instead stressing the need for the Government to provide better palliative care for terminally ill patients preceding their death.
CARE has commenced a campaign against Lord Joffe’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Bill following a House of Lords debate on the report.
As the issue of euthanasia and assisted dying continues to be debated in the British Parliament, Christian Today was able to interview leading US disability rights advocate Joni Eareckson Tada on the issue. The full text of the exclusive interview is shown below:
CT: Parliament is presently discussing a proposed euthanasia law for those with terminal illnesses. Why do you believe this is so dangerous for disabled people?
JONI: Once you establish by law the right for terminally ill people to end their lives with the assistance of the National Health Service, then the door has been cracked open for other medically-fragile people to want the same right. For now it’s those with cancer. In the future, it may well be those suffering from motor-neuron disease. From there, the care givers of people with Alzheimer’s may campaign for their loved one to be given “aid in dying.”
CT: Do you believe economics factors into a discussion about euthanasia?
JONI: Health care costs are skyrocketing, as well as increased spending limits on UK’s National Health Service, decision-makers are beginning to look at the “cost effectiveness” of extending the lives of people who are terminally ill, or even severely disabled. And it’s scary. Privately, some politicians are looking for ways to control the billions of dollars spent on the care of those who are terminally ill or severely debilitated. Those of us in disability advocacy are increasingly concerned that end-of-life decisions will be made based on a person’s “burden” on the health care system. This may eventually put at risk the disabled and the elderly. It is these groups of people who are caught in the middle of this debate.
CT: How has it come to this?
