The latest news out of Great Britain is very depressing. British lawmakers approved a bill that could allow assisted suicide to be sanctioned in England and Wales by the government. The vote came after hours of heated discussion. The supporters of the law argued that this would end the suffering of terminally ill patients. Some warned that it could have unintended consequences.

Proponents of the law claimed that it would provide dignity to dying individuals and prevent unnecessary suffering. However, opponents argued it could place vulnerable people at risk, because they might be forced to end their lives, directly or indirectly, to avoid being a burden.

The supporters of this bill argued that suicide with the help of others was a dignified death.

Danny Kruger, leader of the Tory Party in opposition to the Bill, said that Parliament should do more than offer a “state-sponsored suicide service” for terminally ill citizens and instead provide them with palliative care as they near their final days.

Kruger continued:

This place, you, and our Parliament are our guardians. Although we protect the most vulnerable in our society, we are about to give up this role.

Recently, MP Kruger wrote that the bill called the Terminally Ill Adults Bill (End of Life) was unnecessary as anyone in the U.K. can end their own life at any moment. To put it in another way: “We are all within six months of death if we wish to be.”

Kruger said that improving palliative care at the end of life would be a more compassionate and dignified solution.

The use of modern pain relief drugs means that virtually no one needs to endure unimaginable pain. End-of-life care is patchy at the moment and underfunded. This makes it difficult for all to die peacefully.

Kruger warned that a similar law could force the sickest and most vulnerable people to end their lives when there are other options. Kruger claimed that “a small group” of activists openly declares that this is only the beginning and that the right-to-die principle will soon be extended to more jurisdictions.

Canada is an excellent example of this slippery slope accelerating. The homeless are offered suicide as a way to escape the situation they’re in.

We’ve written about the rise in assisted suicides and the troubling questions that state-sanctioned death raises.

The decline of religious people could be a factor. Many people think they have the power to decide on everything.

In 2015, The Heritage Foundation released an important paper called “Always Care, Never Kill: How Physician-Assisted Suicide Endangers the Weak, Corrupts Medicine, Compromises the Family, and Violates Human Dignity and Equality” that is a must-read for those in the United States who fear that assisted suicide and its consequences could take hold at home.

This document highlights four major dangers that such legislation poses:

  • Endanger the weak and vulnerable,
  • Corrupt the practice of medicine and the doctor-patient relationship,
  • Compromise the family and intergenerational commitments, and
  • Betray human dignity and equality before the law.

In the United Kingdom, the bill has only been approved in principle. The Parliament will have to vote again in the future.