Anti-euthanasia groups criticise biassed report: (2) Right To Life says report should be rejected

Anti-euthanasia groups have robustly rejected the calls for the legalisation of assisted suicide by the Commission on Assisted Dying that was chaired by Lord Falconer. In a 400-page report published on Thursday, 5 January,  the commission, which has been severely criticised for its pro-assisted-dying bias by the British Medical Association among other respected medical, disability and religious groups and organisations, is asserting that the law should be changed to permit assisted suicide for patients who are terminally ill and have under a year to live.

The Falconer Report recommends that such patients should be allowed to request a lethal dose of drugs from their doctor which they would take themselves. ALERT, the anti-euthanasia group, Not Dead Yet UK, and Care Not Killing alliance strongly oppose the recommendations.

Elspeth Chowdharay-Best of ALERT said: “The report by Lord Falconer’s so-called Commission on Assisted Dying is less solid than it seems on the surface. There is no firm ground in its proposals anywhere. In spite of much talk of safeguards stand on the pretty green scum and you will sink into the mud. It is extremely dangerous and must be rejected.”

Dr Peter Saunders of Care Not Killing said: “The very last thing we need, especially at a time of economic recession, when many families are feeling financial pressure and health budgets are being cut, is a law allowing assisted suicide.

“This would place pressure on elderly, sick and disabled people to end their lives, for fear of being an emotional or financial burden or exhausting an inheritance, and would be a recipe for abuse and exploitation for those with an interest in their deaths.

“The law is there to protect vulnerable people, not to give liberties to a very small number of those who are determined to die. The current law works well. It provides a strong deterrent to would-be abusers whilst at the same time giving discretion to judges and prosecutors to temper justice with mercy in hard cases. It does not need fixing and we tamper with it at our peril.”

Baroness Jane Campbell of Not Dead Yet UK said: “As the biggest reason given for wanting to die early is being a burden on families and others, we believe this reason must be addressed and resolved before considering legislating on assisted dying.

“We believe there is much evidence in the commission's findings to show how difficult it is for people to receive a good level of palliative care and social care across the country. It also acknowledges that both the Swiss clinic and Oregon are not safe or good examples of assisted dying in practice.

“We also all know the NHS is currently not in a position to make it possible for people to have a proper choice. They are often left without dignity or pain relief, which therefore demonstrates clearly why individuals faced with this possibility, say they want help to die rather than suffer this lack of support. We can change the second but not the first scenario.

“We want to change bad attitudes, lack of social care and health care, before thinking about the possibility of assisted dying. We do not want the law changed now.”

Right To Life says report should be rejected

Right to Life, the pro-life pressure group, has rejected the conclusions of the inquiry by the Commission on Assisted Dying.

The group says it is confident that Parliament will also reject the report, which calls for the legalisation of assisted suicide for terminally-ill patients, in view of "the continuous and unanswerable criticism surrounding the blatant and outrageous bias in favour of a change in the law among the membership of the commission and that it was funded by individuals and groups campaigning for such a change in the law."

Right to Life is warning the public, however, that widespread opposition to the changes demanded by the Report may lull people into a false sense of security that might give an advantage to those demanding assisted suicide.

In a statement, Phyllis Bowman, the chief executive of Right to Life, said: “The fact that the present Parliament will most probably reject the Falconer Commission Report and any possible suggestion of legalising assisted dying brings real dangers of lulling British society into a sense of complacency. 

“The report of the discredited commission is far too glib in its acceptance of many claims made by the providers of euthanasia in overseas states and areas.  

“For example it repeatedly quotes doctors overseas providing euthanasia who claim that they have no evidence or scant evidence of patients being pressured or unduly influenced into opting for death. Yet, in this country every disability rights group opposes assisted dying because of the very real pressure or manipulations actually experienced by some of their members.  It mostly occurs in a minority of cases – very much a minority.

"But, the fact is that it does occur and it is the duty of a compassionate society to do everything possible to ensure that the vulnerable are fully protected.

”We also have to be aware that neither Lord Falconer nor the members of his discredited Commission will go quietly away. They will carry on their campaign as relentlessly as hitherto and are very much a danger to the sick, the disabled and to the aged.

“Their gravest error has been ignoring the effects of the euthanasia programme in countries such as Holland. 

“Throughout the report they have sought to give the impression that in Holland and elsewhere strict controls are kept on the practice of voluntary assisted dying. Yet, the latest announcement from Holland on the fact that the government is considering the introduction of mobile euthanasia units gives a clear indication of the dominant mentality in the Netherlands.

“The reason offered for this is that 80 per cent of people with dementia or mental illness are being ‘missed’ by the euthanasia laws and the mobile units would allow patients to be ‘treated’ in their own homes.  

“Although there is no suggestion of patients suffering from dementia being provided with euthanasia in the present report,  the fact is that Alzheimer’s disease and similar illnesses have been used to justify their whole campaign.

“We can also be sure that the BBC personnel – so many of whom are as committed to the euthanasia ideology as they are in Dignity In Dying and in the Falconer Commission – will not give up and society must remain constantly vigilant.”

For further information see: http://www.righttolife.org.uk