Disabled concerns about ‘pressure to end their life’
Many disabled people are worried that a new Assisted Dying Bill will lead to them coming under pressure to end their lives, says Scope.
The leading disability charity commissioned a poll ahead of today’s debate on the Bill in the House of Lords.
It found 72% of young disabled people are concerned about moves to legalise assisted suicide.
Twice as many disabled people would be concerned by a change in law, 64%, as those who would not (36%).
62% of those who are concerned about a change in the law said that they were worried that it would lead to pressure being place on disabled people to end their lives prematurely.
However, 55% of disabled people surveyed believe that the current ban on assisted suicide protects vulnerable people from pressure to end their lives.
“Many disabled people are really worried about a change in the law on assisted suicide,” said Richard Hawkes, CEO of Scope.
“They are concerned that it will lead to disabled people, and other vulnerable people, feeling under pressure to end their lives.
“Why is it that when people who are not disabled want to commit suicide, we try to talk them out of it, but when a disabled person wants to commit suicide, we focus on how we can make that possible?
“The campaign to legalise assisted suicide reinforces deep-seated beliefs that the lives of disabled people are not worth as much as other people's.
“It's a view that is all too common.
“The current law against assisted suicide works. It sends a powerful message countering the view that if you're disabled it's not worth being alive, and that you're a burden.
“Many disabled people strongly oppose a change in the law.”
Scope has come out strongly against the legalisation of assisted suicide.
The charity believes that a change in the law reinforces a view that it's 'better to be dead than be disabled', and could lead to disabled people feeling under pressure to end their lives.
The Bill being proposed claims to be 'just for people with six months to live' but Scope argues that this definition is vague and would include many disabled people, including those with long-term and degenerative conditions.
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