14-year jail for pressuring someone to die under proposed assisted suicide bill
Individuals found guilty of pressuring someone in to assisted dying could face up to 14 years in prison if MPs pass a new law legalising the practice.
The new bill, proposed by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, will also require that the lethal medication be self-administered by the patient rather than by a doctor.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will be debated for the first time on 29 November, and MPs will be free to vote in accordance with their conscience on the matter.
Leadbeater has insisted that her bill, which would make assisted dying legal in England and Wales, has “the strictest protections and safeguards of any legislation anywhere in the world”.
Under her proposals, adults with less than six months to live can apply for assisted dying provided they have the mental capacity to do so and have been registered with a GP for a year.
They must make two separate declarations of their wishes, signed in front of witnesses, and two doctors must independently agree that they are eligible for assisted dying.
The doctors will be required to ensure that the person is making the decision voluntarily and that they are fully informed about the choice they are making. No doctor will be required to participate in this process.
Once these steps are completed, the application will go before a High Court judge, who can summon the doctors, the individual, and anyone else connected to the case.
If the judge is satisfied, the individual can then access assisted dying. Unlike other countries where assisted dying is legal, the lethal medication must be self-administered under Leadbeater’s proposals rather than administered by a doctor.
Alongside the safeguards in place during the assisted dying process, the new legislation also proposes creating a new offence which makes it illegal to encourage somebody in to assisted dying against their will.
Anyone found guilty of encouraging someone to either apply for assisted dying or administer the lethal medication through “dishonesty, coercion or pressure” could face up to 14 years in prison.
This is the same sentence as for helping someone die by suicide, although some critics may argue that wrongly pressuring someone to die goes beyond this.
The maximum sentence for manslaughter is life imprisonment, though judges can also impose jail sentences of between two and ten years. While murder also carries a life sentence, tariffs – the amount of time someone must spend in jail before parole – can range between 15 and 30 years.
Commenting on the bill’s publication, Leadbeater said: “On 29 November MPs will be deciding whether to allow my bill to go forward for further detailed scrutiny and amendment by both Houses of Parliament. It was my responsibility to put before them the best possible legislation and I believe I have done that.”
She warned wavering MPs against rejecting her bill, adding that it has been “nearly a decade since the Commons last voted on the issue, and it could easily be as long before they get another opportunity”.
The Spen Valley MP also said that she had consulted with medical and legal experts, the hospice sector, disability rights activists, and faith leaders on the bill’s contents.
“MPs now have almost three weeks to look closely at this bill before the debate. I remain ready and willing to answer any questions they may have, because I don’t underestimate the seriousness of the issue,” she continued.
The legislation has already proved divisive in the Commons, with Cabinet ministers, including Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood – the two ministers responsible for implementing the changes if passed – publicly confirming they will vote against it.
Many of those opposed to the legislation argue that the UK’s palliative care system requires improvement before assisted dying can be considered.
Dr Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of campaign organisation Care Not Killing, said the legislation was being “rushed with indecent haste”, adding that it “ignores the deep-seated problems in the UK’s broken and patchy palliative care system”.
“Indeed, the problems in end-of-life care, chronicled in great detail in numerous academic and official reports, have been explicitly recognised by our new Health Secretary and many other parliamentarians, who want to fix the system, not change the law. We agree with them,” he continued.
Humanist UK, however, has praised the legislation, with the charity’s chief executive, Andrew Copson, claiming it will “give many suffering people the choice and dignity they desire and deserve”.
“The fact of the matter is that assisted dying is already happening in this country. People are travelling to Switzerland, engaging in suicides and mercy killings, and doctors are providing too much morphine. Others are dying through suicide,” he said.
“MPs’ jobs are properly understood not as introducing a practice where there is none but to introduce safeguards where there are none.”
