Euthanasia debate reignites in UK

Two former health ministers on Saturday night became the latest senior figures to join growing calls for a new attempt to legalize assisted dying, while a leading Tory figure said he was prepared to champion legislation in Parliament.

According to The Observer, both former Conservative minister Stephen Dorrell and Labor MP Alan Milburn say they support changing legislation in England and Wales on assisted dying.

The news comes as campaigners hope to hold a new vote on the issue at the start of the next Parliament, almost 10 years after the last attempt to change the law. Keith Malthouse, a former Cabinet minister, said he was “absolutely” prepared to support a new private member’s bill on the issue.

“There has been quite a dramatic shift over the last two parliaments,” he said. – Another generation of deputies came and added to the loud voices that spoke on this issue. Inaction is not a passive choice. By leaving the law as it is, we are dooming many thousands of people who might want a different end to a terrible death.”

Renewed calls for Parliament to vote to change the law follow The Observer’s reporting of Diana Rigg’s impassioned plea to legalize assisted dying, made in a message recorded shortly before her death from cancer three years ago.

Last week, renowned BBC presenter Esther Rantzen revealed how she was considering euthanasia if ongoing treatment for lung cancer did not improve her condition.

It is understood that Labor will devote time and formal consultation to improving the new bill and its guarantees if it receives majority support in the early parliamentary stages, The Observer notes.

Campaigners are now calling on both major parties to promise in their election manifestos that they will give the government time for a help-in-dying bill. The previous attempt to change the law was through a private member’s bill.

Alan Milburn, who served as health secretary under Tony Blair, said: “When people today expect to be in control of so many aspects of their lives, it seems paradoxical that we are denied the way we want to die. This is perhaps the most important decision any of us can make. To deny this choice is becoming increasingly anachronistic. The time has come for a free vote in parliament on this issue.”

Stephen Dorrell, who served as health secretary under John Major and has since joined the Lib Dems, said: “My personal opinion has changed. I am for this, subject to guarantees. Obviously, this has been an issue the entire time I have been involved in various areas of healthcare. At that time, I was always of the opinion that now was not the right time. But I think public attitudes are certainly changing. If this issue had been raised at an early stage in the next Parliament, I think it would have led to a different result.”

A number of Conservative figures from across the party also voiced their support. Small Business Minister Kevin Hollinrake said he was “more inclined than ever” to support artificial death.

Tory peer Zac Goldsmith said the law must be “absolutely in the best interests of the people”.

Tory MP Lucy Allan said it would be wrong to debate the issue through a private member’s bill and called on the government to prioritize the issue: “The government cannot continue to sidestep this deeply complex and emotional issue. This should give parliament the opportunity to debate and vote.”

Tory minister Guy Opperman said his support for assisted dying came as he was undergoing treatment for a brain tumor discovered after he collapsed in Parliament. “Fortunately, I was one of the lucky ones and survived, but during my treatment I met many terminally ill people who expressed a desire to end not only their lives, but also the suffering of those around them… I 110% support changing the law, – he said. “It is life by your choice and death by your choice.”

However, other senior figures such as Michael Gove have expressed doubts about any changes.

Critics of the aid-in-dying law have also warned of difficulties in determining who is eligible, the dangers of pressuring people to make the decision and subsequent attempts to expand the law, The Observer noted.

Alistair Thompson, a spokesman for Care Not Killing, an anti-assisted dying group, pointed to polls that showed public support for euthanasia may actually have declined since the mid-1990s.