Assisted dying Bills aim to ‘fix problem’, says ex-MP whose father took own life
Paul Blomfield said his elderly father died alone after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Bills at Holyrood and Westminster that would allow terminally ill people to get help to die are trying to “fix a problem we face as society”, a former MP has said as he told how his elderly father took his own life alone.
Paul Blomfield, who served as a Labour MP for Sheffield, said he spoke to his father Harry on the phone – and the next day he was told the 87-year-old had been found dead.
He said that while his father had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, it “hadn’t crossed my mind” he would end his life.
But he said the lack of assisted dying laws meant his father “died alone and he died earlier than he would have done”.
Speaking at a fringe event organised by campaign group Dignity in Dying at the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow, Mr Blomfield added: “He had less life because assisted dying wasn’t available.
“I am convinced he acted while he had the capacity to do so, rather than fear if he lost that capacity.”
Mr Blomfield, who is chairman of Dignity in Dying, which backs changing the law in this area, told the meeting he had had a “fairly ordinary” phone conversation with his father.
But he added: “The following day I got a phone call to say he was dead in his garage.”
He said his father had a terminal diagnosis for lung cancer but “was at a fairly early stage of the disease”, however he said he had seen “too many of his friends die badly”.
Bills aiming to legalise assisted dying are currently being considered at both Westminster and Holyrood, put forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater and Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur respectively.
Ms Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has already passed an initial vote in the House of Commons, while Mr McArthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill is being scrutinised by MSPs on Holyrood’s Health Committee, ahead of a vote before the summer recess.
Both proposals seek to allow adults diagnosed with a terminal illness to get medical help to end their lives, with Mr Blomfield saying: “Both Liam and Kim are trying to fix that problem that we face as a society.
“My father wasn’t alone, more than 600 people a year take their own lives with a terminal diagnosis.”
Glasgow University Professor Ben Colburn meanwhile told the fringe event there is a “lot of misinformation” about assisted dying.
“I think the misinformation comes from a place of genuine concerns about protecting vulnerable people,” he said, but added the evidence is “reassuring about those fears”.
Prof Colburn, an expert in political philosophy, said research shows: “On the whole people with disabilities don’t oppose assisted dying laws.
“Sometimes it is suggested that disabled people as a group are especially afraid of assisted dying legislation or are actively opposed to it.
“That is untrue, there is very strong evidence that people with disabilities support assisted dying, in about the same proportions as the general population.
“Assisted dying laws do not disproportionately harm people with disabilities and other vulnerable people.
“Assisted dying laws do not show disrespect or devalue disabled or vulnerable lives.
“And assisted dying laws do not have an adverse effect upon palliative care provisions.”
The Better Way campaign opposes assisted dying.
It said Mr Blomfield and others in similar circumstances must be “met with the deepest sympathy”, but says introducing assisted dying would be harmful to the UK’s approach to suicide prevention.
A spokesman said: “The UK Government’s suicide prevention adviser, Professor Luis Appleby, has today cautioned that the Bills brought forward at Westminster and Holyrood may hamper suicide prevention work, should they be passed.
“A wide array of people, including psychiatrists, palliative doctors, and experts in coercive and controlling behaviour have also warned against a change in the law.
“Campaigners for assisted suicide are flat wrong to claim that ‘assisted dying’ laws pose no threat to vulnerable groups.
“And it is concerning that some proponents write off the very serious concerns of many disabled people. Opposition is grounded in very real evidence of abuses, expansion, and injustices against marginalised communities.”
They added: “We’d urge politicians at Westminster and Holyrood to oppose assisted suicide and instead devote their energy to improving ethical and progressive forms of support: blanket suicide prevention, palliative care, and measures that create a more inclusive society for disabled people.”
