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Biased assisted suicide committee in UK hears opposition to its legalisation

Image credit: Kaboompics.com via Pexels / BBC/Burning Bright Productions Ltd

A committee in the UK set up to scrutinise the proposed assisted suicide bill has been criticised for its bias, after it consists of more MPs in favour of the bill than against. Despite this, the committee still heard a range of voices speaking out against the bill, including those from disability organisations. 

In November 2024, UK MPs voted 330 to 275 in favour of a bill that would see assisted suicide legalised. Whilst that vote did not yet make assisted suicide legal, it did pass the bill through its second reading, where it would then proceed to committee stage before being brought forth for more voting. In response to the vote, pro-life organisation, Right to Life UK, issued a press release urging pro-lifers to double up their efforts, to prevent assisted suicide from being made legal.

Last week, a committee was set up to scrutinise the proposed assisted suicide bill, however, Right to Life UK expressed concerns over the heavily biased committee that included more MPs in favour of the bill than those opposed, with only one person on the opposition side who has been actively vocal against the bill.

Liz Carr, a disability rights activists who has been actively spoken out against assisted suicide, also took to social media to call out the biased committee, who spoke to a total of eight witnesses from counties who had legalised assisted suicide, where all of them were in favour of the law.


“You know the Assisted Suicide Bill committee? The select group of MPs charged with ensuring the safest law possible? They met 8 witnesses from countries where medically assisted suicide is legal Every single one of them was pro assisted suicide Every. Single. One.” She said.

However, a range of people who are opposed to legalising assisted suicide raised their voices during the committee, bringing in some excellent reasons as to why the UK must avoid legalising assisted suicide. The range of videos can be viewed on the Right to Life UK X page.

One person whose comments stood out were from Dr Miro Griffiths, a Disability Studies scholar, who reminded the committee that no disability organisations, nor any organisation supporting disabled people, are in favour of the legalisation of assisted suicide and urged for them to be represented “in any form of advisal counsel.” He also requested that any scholars “such as Disability Studies scholars, that are often left out of the discourses of disability policies, are involved in any form of mechanism to advise or scrutinise”.


Toby Porter, the CEO of Hospice UK, also told the committee that if a person were to choose assisted suicide “because of a real or imagined fear” over not being able to get any pain relief or any other form of symptom alleviation, it would be a “moral and practical disgrace”


The Executive Director for Policy and Research at Marie Curie, Sam Royston, spoke about his concern over legalising assisted suicide when there is “no plan” to address the issue over the lack of palliative care, a concern that has been brought up throughout the debates over this bill.


“We project that over the coming 25 years, the need for palliative care is going to rise by about 25%, around 150,000 more people each year needing palliative care. And we have no plan, no plan at all to address the scale of that challenge.” Mr Royston said adding that this crisis “can't be the reason for introducing assisted dying, and we need to make sure that there is a plan to improve palliative care support for people at the end of life.”

“We’re trying to create a society where disabled people are equal and valued, and in that sense the bill actually makes that harder for us to reach a disability inclusive society” said Fazilet Hadi, of Disability Rights UK.


“I know you want to look at the problems of individuals, but also you have a responsibility to think about the society we want to create,” she continued. “We’ve already got an uphill struggle convincing people that our lives are of equal value, and this bill actually hinders us in that aspiration and ambition rather than helping us.”

Speaking on the concerns over providing safeguards, that in other countries have proven to be ineffective, Dr Rachel Clarke said to the Committee

“If for instance you say to a vulnerable patient whose just been told they have a diagnosis of terminal cancer, ‘have you thought about assisted dying?’ I would suggest that stating it boldly like that is a form of pressure, and potentially, you are unintentionally coercing that patient, because the very act of raising assisted dying in that way will make that vulnerable patient think ‘is this doctor telling me that my life is not worth living anymore?’”


Sandra Parda of the Life Institute commented, saying: “It is brilliant to see these people speak up about the major concerns when it comes to legalising assisted suicide. MPs should heed to these remarks, especially in regards to the lack of support from disability organisations.”

However, she added that it was “shocking but not surprising” to learn that the witness list was so biased in favour of those favouring assisted suicide, and said that imbalance made a farce of the supposed impartiality of the process.

“We saw this in Ireland before the 2018 referendum with the Citizens Assembly and the Oireachtas Committee hearings which were designed to hear from mostly pro-abortion arguments which were then given saturation coverage by the media,” she said. “It’s a tactic now being used to push assisted suicide while pretending its an unbiased hearing.”

“Legalising assisted suicide sends a dangerous message that a life is somehow made worthless because of a sickness or disability. We are human beings and our worth is not defined by how able or well we are, but by the fact that we are human.”

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