Changing the law on assisted suicide will put lives at risk, say campaigners

 (Photo: Getty/iStock)

A coalition of over 40 organisations has warned of the "dangers" for terminally ill and disabled people if assisted suicide is made legal. 

Responding to comments this week by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in favour of changing the law, Care Not Killing said this would put pressure on people to end their lives prematurely. 

Dr Gordon Macdonald, Chief Executive of Care Not Killing, said that current laws "do not need changing". 

"Changing the law to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia in the UK would represent a dramatic change in how doctors and nurses treat and care for people and put the lives of the vulnerable, terminally ill and disabled people at risk," he said. 

"Indeed, these dangers are particularly acute when the health service is crumbling, hospices are underfunded and one in every four people who would benefit from palliative can't access it."

Care Not Killing is a broad alliance of human rights and disability rights organisations, health care and palliative care groups, and faith-based organisations groups committed to better palliative care and opposing efforts to change the law on assisted suicide.

The coalition predicts that legalising assisted suicide will lead to an increase in overall suicide rates.

Dr Macdonald continued: "Sir Keir needs to recognise the real dangers associated with legalising state sanctioned killing, such as the pressure it puts on people to end their lives prematurely, and the growing body of evidence showing assisted suicide appears normalises suicide in the general populations.

"Indeed, academics who looked at this emerging trend concluded that legalising assisted suicide in Oregon was associated with an increase of 6.3 per cent in the numbers of suicides, once all other factors had been controlled. Among over 65s the figure was more than double that.

"If this was repeated here in the UK that would mean hundreds of more suicides every single year."

The last time Westminster voted on legalising assisted suicide was in 2015, when it was defeated. 

Sir Keir has promised to give MPs another vote on the issue if Labour wins the next general election. 

A Commons report last month suggested that the law on assisted suicide is likely to change in parts of the British Isles soon, with Jersey, a Crown Dependency, expected to be first. Scotland and the Isle of Man are also considering changes to the law. 

The report from the parliamentary Health and Social Care Committee said that UK ministers must consider the implications of legal divergence on the matter.

Newsletter Stay up to date with Christian Today
News
What should Christians make of Tommy Robinson?
What should Christians make of Tommy Robinson?

In demanding that the likes of Robinson be banned from the Oxford Union, the clergy are in effect setting their own limit on freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Christian woman persecuted by Iranian regime sentenced to 9 years in prison
Christian woman persecuted by Iranian regime sentenced to 9 years in prison

A Christian convert in Iran has been sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison on trumped-up charges linked to state security and anti-government activity.

John Lennox fears AI is making us lazy
John Lennox fears AI is making us lazy

Christian media leaders heard calls for courage, authenticity and discernment at the recent Revive 2026 conference.

Does the Church of England need to re-think its messaging?
Does the Church of England need to re-think its messaging?

If you look at the Church of England’s communications all that it ever seems to highlight is the good works that Christians do to improve the temporal well-being of their neighbours. It is right to highlight these things, but they are not the primary reason for the Church’s existence.