‘Right to die would not lead to more deaths’

Giving people with terminal illness the right to die would not lead to more deaths, but would mean fewer suffering "lonely, cruel" ends, a Labour peer has claimed.

Former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer of Thoroton is calling for a “limited and safeguarded” change in the law to allow doctors to prescribe a lethal dose to terminally ill patients judged to have less than six months to live.

Presenting his Assisted Dying Bill in the House of Lords yesterday, he said, while it was important to continue to improve end of life care, for a minority this was not good enough.

He told peers: “The current situation leaves the rich able to go to Switzerland, the majority reliant on amateur assistance, the compassionate treated like criminals.

“No safeguards in respect of undue pressure now and many people caring so much for those they leave behind dying earlier and alone because they fear implicating their loved one in a criminal enterprise.

“They hoard pills or put a plastic bag over their head when they are alone . . . It is time for a change in the law but only a very limited and safeguarded change.”

He insisted his Bill, which he said was similar to the Oregon model, had support among both the disabled and wider population.

A list of around 130 peers have put their names down to speak during the debate, which was expected to last late into the evening. They will be given free votes on the issue as it is a matter of conscience.

However, Prime Minister David Cameron spoke of his “worry” about legalising euthanasia, saying he was “not convinced that further steps need to be taken”, and that “people might be pushed into things that they don’t actually want for themselves“.