At this time when so many are struggling to contain and overcome coronavirus, our thoughts and hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones or who are struggling with the virus.

And my deepest appreciation goes out too to every single donor who has supported vulnerable people by giving to CNK's Stepping Up, Speaking Out campaign over the past few days. Thank you!

Vulnerable people all over our country are frightened, with good reason. They fear infection. They fear contracting a deadly virus. And some fear that they may never hug their grandchildren again.

They even doubt if they will ever enjoy an afternoon strolling in the local park, or taking in the view at their favourite beach.

Being in long-term isolation is bad enough, but vulnerable people today have another, far more formidable reason to be fearful about their future.

It's as serious as any threat gets. And though too far-off for many people to concern themselves with it at this moment in time, the threat in question is unlikely to stay far off for long.

That's why I must bring it to your urgent attention today. Because, like coronavirus, this threat doesn't respect borders. It very quickly spreads from one country to another.

You see, as our country continues in lockdown, the euthanasia lobby is working busily to change the law on assisted suicide on the island of Jersey.

If it succeeds, the resulting contagion will prove more deadly to the vulnerable on that island than coronavirus ever will. And it won't stop with Jersey.

Assisted suicide: a contagion coming to a place near you soon?

The master plan, of course, is to make assisted suicide legal. First in Jersey and then, as people get used to the idea you can guarantee that it will be rolled out across the entire UK.

Already they are trying to persuade medical bodies in the UK to drop their opposition to assisted suicide and euthanasia. The BMA will decide later this year whether to do so.

Meanwhile in the Scottish Parliament, the Cross-Party Group on End of Life Choices is planning for the introduction of a new Bill to legalise assisted suicide.

Again, the plan is to legalise killing in stages, starting first with the smaller jurisdictions.

Added to that, great pressure is being applied at Westminster on the UK Government to launch an inquiry into the current law which prohibits assisting suicide.

Should the euthanasia lobby achieve its deadly goal, the generation who will suffer most is going to be the one which has contributed the most to society, the generation who have paid in most over their long lives.

Let's face it, every penny in care costs has been paid for in advance in substantial tax and national insurance contributions down the years.

For many, though, the biggest price they will pay will be with their life. Because, as sure as night follows day, 'voluntary' euthanasia will become non-voluntary killing.

In all jurisdictions where euthanasia is legalised, we are told that the request to be killed must be 'voluntary', 'well-considered', 'informed', and 'persistent over time'.

Despite these 'safeguards' a comprehensive 2011 study reported that more than 500 people in the Netherlands are euthanised involuntarily every year. For every five people euthanised, one person is euthanised without having given explicit consent. And in Belgium, the rate of non-voluntary euthanasia deaths (that is, without explicit consent) is three times higher than it is in the Netherlands. 

And there is also a growing danger of 'backdoor' or informal euthanasia. In the Netherlands in 2016, for every person whose death was categorised as being by euthanasia, another five experienced 'continuous deep sedation' until death. What's more, the first and only attempt to bring a case of abuse of the law to trial failed to secure a conviction.

Even where consent is officially given, in many cases it can hardly be said to have been given for good medical reasons. Take Oregon, USA, where assisted suicide was legalised in 1997.

Fifty-four per cent of those receiving legal assisted suicide in 2018 cited "concern about being a burden" as a reason given for their request.

For some, the sick, infirm and dying don't warrant nursing or medical care or the true dignity this affords sufferers. These people are said to "block beds" on our hospital wards and "waste" scarce NHS resources and "burden" their families and carers.

It's sentiments like these that make Oregon-style death laws a very real threat to vulnerable people in the UK too.

Already, we are seeing newspaper reports of healthcare rationing with allegations of blanket discrimination being applied against the elderly and vulnerable.

Incredibly, some academics are even saying that the financial savings of legalising assisted suicide and euthanasia should not be overlooked and this is the "elephant in the room" which can no longer be ignored.

They want to see euthanasia legal so more organs can be harvested from patients

Moreover, this headline from the Jersey Evening Post should leave no doubt in anyone's mind that a law change in Jersey will set a dangerous precedent for law change across the entire UK: "A Jersey campaign group has united with five UK-based organisations to form the first national coalition lobbying for assisted dying in the British Isles."

It costs an average of £10,000 per person to access the 'services' of the Swiss suicide clinic, Dignitas.

We don't want to see similar 'suicide tourism' in Jersey, or in any other part of the UK.

A change in the law in any part of the British Isles, will create a classic case of the thin end of the wedge. This country's sick, dying, and clinically depressed are facing the awful prospect of deliberately having their lives ended.

Our opponents' strategy is two-fold. On the one hand, they want to change the law in smaller jurisdictions, and this will unlock the floodgates in the bigger ones.  On the other, they know that should the big doctors' bodies, like the BMA, adopt a 'neutral' stance on assisted suicide, then it will be used to encourage politicians to change the law.

That's why the decision to be taken by the BMA at its next Annual Representative Meeting is critical. One prominent doctor who advocates for legislation of assisted suicide has said that if the UK medical bodies go 'neutral', that will be a precursor to politicians changing the law in the UK.

How you can help

And that's why today, Care Not Killing is launching its Stepping up, Speaking out fundraising campaign. The goal is: 

- to raise £25,000 by the end of April so that CNK's work isn't derailed by a funding shortage amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

- urging BMA members (doctors) to reject attempts to get the BMA to drop its opposition to assisted suicide and euthanasia.

- speaking out for the vulnerable on TV and in the press

- lobbying politicians and government for care not killing in jurisdictions—like Scotland and Jersey—where the threat to life is most imminent

- continuing informing the public about the real dangers legalising assisted suicide and euthanasia poses through regular social media broadcasts

No other group is focusing solely on all these critically important bases.  Whatever you can afford to give today will help to ensure that these critical campaign activities continue and our opponents are not permitted to go unchallenged and unchecked in this extended lockdown period.

You are the most critical component in this important work, which simply could not carry on without your help.

Should life-protecting laws fall in Scotland and on Jersey, similar laws in other UK jurisdictions will crash alongside them, domino-style, in no time at all.

The law

Should our current laws go, all is in danger of being lost. In fact, already a Bill has been tabled at Westminster. Fortunately it stands very little chance of success, but it sets the mood in Parliament for others which we expect will follow it soon.

Will you help us step up and speak out for the sick, disabled, the suicidally-at-risk, the terminally-ill? If every reading this pitched in whatever they could afford (even just £10!), we would easily surpass our goal.

With the nation's attention diverted elsewhere, the euthanasia lobby is quietly pressing ahead with its deadly goal.  Please, please help us to stop them.  Let's act today to drive fear and anxiety from the lives of vulnerable people.

Dr Gordon Macdonald is head of Care Not Killing, a group of organisations campaigning against the legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide. To donate to the Stepping Up, Speaking Out campaign, visit https://www.carenotkilling.org.uk/donate/