Layla Moran, chair of the health and social care select committee, said Wes Streeting should be taking a more proactive approach to the issue
Labour’s Diane Abbott, mother of the house, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that she voted against the bill due to concerns that vulnerable people will “get swept up in the assisted dying route”.
She said that a quarter of people who want to place family members into hospices are unable to, adding:
If we are thinking about choice, we also have to think about the choice of people who if they could get support, could end their lives peacefully and happily but might find themselves either because they don’t want to be a burden or they are worried about their family’s finances being drained by the cost of care or even a few people who think they shouldn’t be taking up a hospital bed.
I think they should have a genuine choice and not see supported suicide as the only option.
I’ve been moved by personal experiences, my best friend’s mother contracted cancer about 20 years ago and we lived in Belgium at the time.
She started the process but in fact died before she was able to complete the legal part of the process because the cancer was so aggressive. I saw how taking back that little bit of control in her life was important to her.
I was disappointed. I was expecting an announcement from Wes Streeting yesterday to say ‘look, we’ve heard and we are going to do something’ … immediate funding commitments and a view to making sure this is dealt with in the next year or two.
I would argue that, whether this passes or not, that is one of the key messages that came out of the debate.
Continue reading… The Guardian Read More Layla Moran, chair of the health and social care select committee, said Wes Streeting should be taking a more proactive approach to the issueLabour’s Diane Abbott, mother of the house, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that she voted against the bill due to concerns that vulnerable people will “get swept up in the assisted dying route”.She said that a quarter of people who want to place family members into hospices are unable to, adding:If we are thinking about choice, we also have to think about the choice of people who if they could get support, could end their lives peacefully and happily but might find themselves either because they don’t want to be a burden or they are worried about their family’s finances being drained by the cost of care or even a few people who think they shouldn’t be taking up a hospital bed.I think they should have a genuine choice and not see supported suicide as the only option.I’ve been moved by personal experiences, my best friend’s mother contracted cancer about 20 years ago and we lived in Belgium at the time.She started the process but in fact died before she was able to complete the legal part of the process because the cancer was so aggressive. I saw how taking back that little bit of control in her life was important to her.I was disappointed. I was expecting an announcement from Wes Streeting yesterday to say ‘look, we’ve heard and we are going to do something’ … immediate funding commitments and a view to making sure this is dealt with in the next year or two.I would argue that, whether this passes or not, that is one of the key messages that came out of the debate. Continue reading…
