Assisted Dying
Bill In the House of Lords
Dr Mozammel Haque
Labour Peer Lord Adonis opposed the Assisted Dying Bill. He said, “My
Lords, I am opposed to this Bill, although I accept that it is a desperately
difficult issue; like other noble Lords, I have heart-rending experiences of
the long, drawn-out deaths of friends and relatives.”
Labour Peer Lord Adonis said, “The problem with the Bill is that it is
simply not possibly to guard adequately against the abuse of the very elderly
and the very ill by greedy and manipulative relations and friends. The idea
that brief consultations with two doctors are adequate is simply not credible. I
accept that it does extend autonomy—autonomy which I might personally value—to
those of sound mind who are unpressurised about ending their life. Of course I
accept that, which is why this is such a desperately difficult issue. But the
supreme duty of the state and the community is to protect the vulnerable and
their human rights. There is no greater human right than the right to life.
Therefore, very reluctantly, I come to the conclusion that this Bill—or indeed
any Bill seeking to achieve this objective—is not one to which Parliament
should give assent.”
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