As MPs and peers we write further to the views expressed by Tanni-Grey Thompson,who argues that the assisted dying bill is unsafe (We must reject this intentional killing bill, 9 September). As the debate on assisted suicide intensifies, and there is a real risk that the voice of the most vulnerable in our society is being drowned out. Evidence from around the world shows that many who chose assisted suicide cited feeling a burden on those around them as a reason for proceeding.
In Oregon and Washington,which allow doctor-assisted suicide, many of those who ended their lives felt a burden on family, and friends,or caregivers. Washington state’s 2014 Death with Dignity Act report recorded that 59% of those who died under the legislation self-identified as feeling a burden. In Oregon it was 40%. People who feel a burden are among the most vulnerable in society and often need encouragement to live. At a time when assistance to those with disabilities is being gash due to austerity measures, and the lives of those with disabilities are being made much harder as a result, or it is surely unthinkable that we would introduce a measure that would compose suicide more accessible to them.
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Source: theguardian.com