An assisted suicide bill to be debated in Parliament this week will send a "dog whistle message" to the terminally ill and other vulnerable people "that their lives are worth less than others", a coalition of organisations has warned.
The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill is being put forward by Lord Falconer and is due to have its first reading in the House of Lords on Friday.
It seeks to legalise assisted suicide for adults of sound mind who have six months or less to live.
Humanists UK, which supports the bill, said that it "has a strong chance of becoming law, given that the Prime Minister has repeatedly committed to making time for a bill to pass".
Care Not Killing (CNK), an alliance of 40 organisations campaigning for better palliative care instead of assisted suicide, said that the proposals would put vulnerable people at risk, and that they are a "missed opportunity" to overhaul the palliative care sector.
Dr Gordon Macdonald, CNK chief executive, said, "Yet again, Lord Falconer and few fanatical supporters of assisted suicide and euthanasia will push a bill that sends a dog whistle message to the terminally ill, vulnerable, elderly and disabled people, that their lives are worth less than others.
"This is why we see in places like Oregon the model previously advanced by supporters of changing the law, a majority cite fear of being a burden on the families, carers of finances as a reason why they are ending their lives."
He highlighted "worrying" data from the US and Europe that suggests an overall rise in suicides within the general population in places where assisted suicide has been legalised.
He warned that in countries like Canada, which made assisted suicide legal in 2016, the list of acceptable conditions has widened far beyond terminal illness.
"In Canada, which has a euthanasia system, 1,400 of those whose lives were ended in 2022 cited loneliness as a reason, while we have seen cases of military veterans, a Paralympian and multiple disabled people being offered an assisted death rather than the support and care they need to live with dignity and this is before the plans extend their law to allow those with mental health problems to be killed," he said.
Dr Macdonald urged parliamentarians to make palliative care their priority, instead of assisted suicide.
"This is a missed opportunity of gigantic proportions to try and fix the UK's broken palliative care system, which has been under-funded for decades and fails around one in four Brits," he said.
"Indeed, the recent Health and Social Care Committee recommend Parliament look at how to close the gaps in palliative care, not how to help people end their lives – this should be the priority not a dangerous an ideological policy that will fundamentally alter health care and lead to many premature deaths."
If you have been affected by suicide or any of the issues raised in this article, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123.
