00:00I want to tell you today why I'm totally opposed to the assisted dying bill.
00:05Let's call it what it is, it's actually an assisted suicide bill.
00:08We already have assisted dying, it's called palliative care.
00:12The problem that we have in the UK is not enough money goes into palliative care,
00:16so only one in four people actually access good palliative care.
00:20A lot of people don't know that there is something available in palliative care
00:24when your pain becomes so great that it can't be managed just with pain really,
00:28called continuous deep sedation where you're actually given enough medication
00:33that you go into a deep sleep and you're not feeling pain, but neither are we killing you.
00:38The body will slowly die obviously because that's what we all do,
00:42but we can actually make it pain-free completely until the end.
00:46We need to put our efforts there. It is not the state's job to kill people.
00:52This private member's bill has been rushed through, it's been bullied at committee stage
00:57with the committee being loaded about 15 to 8 for and against assisted dying,
01:03and that's reflected in all of the amendments that have been voted down in those numbers.
01:08What I worry about as a GP is it's not my role to suggest to people that they might want to die.
01:14I worry that it's going to slip to suggesting that to people with anorexia, disabilities,
01:19finding it hard in life to function financially.
01:22That is not what we're here for. We're here to help people.
01:26I really worry about old people being coerced to die, and believe me, I've seen it, and you can't always spot it.
01:33Old people often feel that they should die because they're a burden.
01:37Younger people in the family feel that granny's money should not be wasted in her care home fees,
01:44so they actually want granny not to go to a care home or not to go there for very long.
01:49I have seen people move into granny's home while she's in a care home and frustrate all efforts to see her come home.
01:57There is so much that can go wrong with this, and the biggest problem is the slippery slope.
02:03Kim Ledbetter will tell you that in Oregon it hasn't happened. It has.
02:07And more and more people in Oregon are saying that the reason they want to die is for financial hardship and mental distress.
02:13Those are not reasons to die. We can help those people.
02:18Let's not kill people. Let's not do it this way. Let's help them and give them a good death.
02:23Let's pray for them.
02:42Let's pray for them.
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