Right To Life UK has condemned the surge in deaths caused by assisted suicide in the Australian state of Victoria as it called for a sustained effort to improve palliative care in Britain.
The pro-life group has said it aims to make the very idea of assisted suicide “unthinkable”.
In September the House of Commons voted against a proposal to legalise assisted suicide by 286 to 270. That vote, described as a “victory for hope, compassion and life” by Right To Life, was all the more extraordinary considering that almost exactly the same politicians had voted in favour of a near identical bill just a year before, by 314 to 291.
Despite the apparent victory, Right To Life warned that the fight was not over, noting that pro-assisted suicide group Dignity in Dying has pledged to keep lobbying for the legalisation of assisted suicide.
Indeed, Labour’s Lord Falconer has made legalising the controversial measure something of a pet project for more than two decades. There have been at least 10 attempts to get some form of medically assisted suicide onto the books since 2000.
Right To Life said, “We want to build a United Kingdom where assisted suicide is seen as unnecessary - and where legalising it is seen as unthinkable.
“The first part of that work is a sustained push for universal access to high-quality palliative, hospice and social care. No one should feel driven towards assisted suicide because they cannot get the care and support they need.”
The group pointed to the Australian state of Victoria as a stark warning of what can happen when assisted suicide is legalised.
In five years there has been a 400 per cent increase in euthanasia cases, with a 59 per cent rise in the year up to 30 June alone. As a percentage of deaths in Victoria, euthanasia accounts for 1.1 per cent, up from 0.3 per cent in 2019-2020.
The number of people applying for assisted suicide and euthanasia who did not access palliative care rose by 50 per cent in the period from 2024-25 to 2026-26.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has signalled less support for assisted suicide than his predecessor Sir Keir Starmer. Burnham has suggested that while he supports the principle of assisted suicide, it would not be right to legalise it while serious concerns remain about the state of palliative care in the country.
Australia is set to widen its assisted suicide laws in 2027, including increasing the prognosis limit from six to 12 months, and ending the restriction on doctors initiating conversations about assisted suicide or euthanasia with a patient unprompted.
Alisdair Hungerford-Morgan, Chief Executive of Right To Life UK, said of the Australian numbers, “Sadly, as in other jurisdictions, once assisted dying is made legal, often more and more people have their lives ended every year. This will likely only get worse once the law expands.
"The removal of safeguards and the expansion of assisted suicide and euthanasia in Victoria, Australia, is a very concerning development.
"It provides yet another example of how the slippery slope of assisted suicide so often becomes a reality, and that there is a clear tendency towards reducing safeguards and widening the eligibility criteria in places where assisted suicide has been legalised.
“The surging number of deaths in Victoria shows why MPs in the UK were right to reject assisted suicide this month. People nearing the end of their lives deserve protection and the best possible care, not a pathway to suicide.”
