The UK is on a “slippery slope towards death on demand”, according to the justice secretary ahead of a historic Commons vote on assisted dying.
In a letter to her constituents, Shabana Mahmood said she was “profoundly concerned” about the legislation.
“Sadly, recent scandals – such as Hillsborough, infected blood and the Post Office Horizon – have reminded us that the state and those acting on its behalf are not always benign,” she wrote.
“I have always held the view that, for this reason, the state should serve a clear role. It should protect and preserve life, not take it away.
“The state should never offer death as a service.”
On 29 November, MPs will be asked to consider whether to legalise assisted dying, through Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
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Minister ‘leans’ to assisted dying bill
Details of the legislation were published last week, including confirmation the medicine that will end a patient’s life will need to be self-administered and people must be terminally ill and expected to die within six months.
Ms Mahmood, however, said “predictions about life expectancy are often inaccurate”.
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“Doctors can only predict a date of death, with any real certainty, in the final days of life,” she said. “The judgment as to who can and cannot be considered for assisted suicide will therefore be subjective and imprecise.”
Under the Labour MP’s proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
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However, Ms Mahmood said she was concerned the legislation could “pressure” some into ending their lives.
“It cannot be overstated what a profound shift in our culture assisted suicide will herald,” she wrote.
“In my view, the greatest risk of all is the pressure the elderly, vulnerable, sick or disabled may place upon themselves.”
Image: Kim Leadbeater waits to present the Assisted Dying Bill. File pic: House of Commons/Reuters
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who put forward the bill, said some of the points Ms Mahmood raised have been answered “in the the thorough drafting and presentation of the bill”.
“The strict eligibility criteria make it very clear that we are only talking about people who are already dying,” she said.
“That is why the bill is called the ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’; its scope cannot be changed and clearly does not include any other group of people.
“The bill would give dying people the autonomy, dignity and choice to shorten their death if they wish.”
In response to concerns Ms Mahmood raised about patients being coerced into choosing assisted death, Ms Leadbeater said she has consulted widely with doctors and judges.
“Those I have spoken to tell me that they are well equipped to ask the right questions to detect coercion and to ascertain a person’s genuine wishes. It is an integral part of their work,” she said.
In an increasingly fractious debate around the topic, multiple Labour MPs have voiced their concerns.
In a letter to ministers on 3 October, the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case confirmed “the Prime Minister has decided to set aside collective responsibility on the merits of this bill” and that the government would “therefore remain neutral on the passage of the Bill and on the matter of assisted dying”.
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Nigel Farage has refused to criticise Donald Trump for claiming pregnant women who take paracetamol risk causing autism in their child – saying “science is never settled”.
The Reform UK leader was asked by Nick Ferrari on LBC whether the US president was right to make the link, which UK health officials have discredited.
He replied: “I have no idea … you know, we were told thalidomide was a very safe drug and it wasn’t. Who knows, Nick, I don’t know.”
Mr Farage, who is a friend of Mr Trump, said the president has a “particular thing about autism – I think because there’s been some in his family, he feels it very personally”.
Asked if he would side with medical experts who have said there is no evidence for the link, Mr Farage said: “I wouldn’t, when it comes to science, I don’t side with anybody.
“I don’t side with anybody, you know, because, because science is never settled, and we should remember that.”
Pressed again on whether it was irresponsible to make that link as US president, Mr Farage replied: “That’s an opinion he’s got. It’s not one that I necessarily share. But I mean, honestly, I’ve no idea.”
On Monday, the US president claimed there had been a “meteoric rise” in cases of autismand suggested the use of Tylenol – an American-branded version of paracetamol – during pregnancy is a potential cause.
Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, Mr Streeting said: “I’ve just got to be really clear about this: there is no evidence to link the use of paracetamol by pregnant women to autism in their children. None.”
The healthsecretary then referenced a major study in Sweden last year that involved 2.4 million children, adding it “did not uphold those claims”.
He added: “I would just say to people watching, don’t pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine.
“In fact, don’t take even take my word for it, as a politician – listen to British doctors, British scientists, the NHS.”
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He referred to a separate controversy in which Dr Aseem Malhotra, a vaccine-sceptic doctor, told the Reform Party conference that the COVID vaccine gave the royal family cancer.
A spokesperson for Reform UK said: “Dr Aseem Malhotra is a guest speaker with his own opinions who has an advisory role in the US government. Reform UK does not endorse what he said but does believe in free speech.”
The Liberal Democrats also criticised Mr Farage, accusing him of wanting to impose Mr Trump’s “dangerous anti-science agenda here in the UK”.
A spokeswoman said: “Peddling this kind of nonsense is irresponsible and wrong.
“It seems Farage would rather see pregnant women suffer in pain than stand up to his idol Donald Trump.”