A former New Zealand parliamentarian has warned Britain against legislating in favour of assisted suicide, citing his own country’s experience.
In June of this year the House of Commons voted 314 to 291 in favour of assisted suicide. However, the measure is not yet law as it must also pass through the House of Lords and receive royal assent from King Charles III.
Traditionally the House of Lords does not oppose government legislation that was in the governing party’s manifesto, however that proviso does not apply in this case.
Simon O’Connor, who until 2023 was the MP for Tāmaki, said that the promised safeguards used to reassure wavering MPs had proven in New Zealand to be largely illusory.
Writing in The Telegraph, he said MPs “had repeatedly been assured that the safeguards [on the New Zealand assisted suicide Bill] were absolute, inviolable, and complete”.
“But, if the experience of those who have passed these laws is anything to go by, British parliamentarians should think very carefully before passing the assisted dying Bill. Safeguards so often promised have proven so rarely effective," he said.
O’Connor said that pro-life activists are correct to raise the spectre of the “slippery slope”. He noted that Oregon, which was one of the earliest adopters of assisted suicide, now permits the procedure for those suffering from anorexia, diabetes or arthritis.
The British bill, he said, should be rejected.
O’Connor’s intervention was welcomed by a range of pro-life groups including the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, CARE and Right To Life UK.
Caroline Ansell, advocacy director for CARE and herself the former Tory MP for Eastbourne, said that the British legislation is “irredeemably flawed in principle and in detail”.
She warned that the law poses a distinct threat to vulnerable groups such as the poor, disabled and ethnic minorities.
Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right To Life UK, said, “Simon O’Connor is correct to highlight New Zealand’s disastrous experience of legalising assisted suicide and euthanasia as a warning sign for those considering Kim Leadbeater’s reckless assisted suicide Bill.”
