00:00My Lords, I oppose this Bill, and I wish to set out my main reasons.
00:04First, I do not believe that the safeguards in this Bill will prevent people from being pressurised to end their lives, sometimes for the benefit of others.
00:15I also worry that, as we have seen in countries where there is such a law, that people will feel that they must end their lives simply because they feel they are a burden on others.
00:28I worry about the impact it will have on people with disabilities, with chronic illness, with mental health problems, because there is a risk that legalising assisted dying reinforces the dangerous notion that some lives are less worth living than others.
00:48And again, as we have seen in other countries, once a law like this is passed, the pressure then grows to extend the scope of it.
00:59I also oppose it because I believe that in the absence of the, by supplying the default of a coroner's report, there is a danger that this could be used as a cover-up.
01:14A cover-up for mistakes made in hospital or for perhaps a hospital-acquired illness infection, which has led to an increased likelihood of death.
Be the first to comment