Theresa May has been accused of being “deeply insensitive” after the former prime minister referred to assisted dying for terminally ill people as suicide during a debate on the matter last week.
Baroness May, one of around 190 peers with their names down to speak on the bill across a two-day debate that will resume on Friday, referred to it as an “assisted suicide bill” and said it “effectively says suicide is OK”.
In a letter to the former prime minister, seen by The Independent, 13 assisted dying campaigners have denounced the language she used, saying they “listened with dismay” as she made her intervention.
“We are not suicidal – we want to live, and to make the most of the time we have left with the people we love. But we are dying and we have no choice or ability to change that,” they said.
“We are not seeking to make a choice between living and dying but between two kinds of death. All we ask is for the choice, safety and peace of mind that legalised assisted dying would bring as we approach the very end of our lives.”
In the emotional letter, they added: “To equate choice and control over the timing and manner of inevitable and imminent death with suicide is deeply insensitive to those of us facing this position.
“We hope that you and other peers will reflect on your choice of words as the bill progresses through the House of Lords.
“We would welcome the opportunity to meet and talk to you about our concerns.”
Baroness May used her intervention in the House of Lords to express concern about a lack of safeguards in the bill, as well as concern over the bill’s possible impact on people with disabilities, chronic illness and mental health problems.
She argued “there is a risk that legalising assisted dying reinforces the dangerous notion that some lives are less worth living than others”.
Baroness May told the Lords: “There is a danger that this could be used as a cover-up; a cover-up for mistakes made in hospital, or for perhaps a hospital-acquired illness, infection, which has led to an increased likelihood of death.
“I have a friend who calls it the ‘licence to kill’ bill.”
The former PM added: “This is not an assisted dying bill but an assisted suicide bill. As a society, we believe that suicide is wrong … but this bill, in effect, says that it is OK. What message does that give to our society?
“Suicide is not OK. Suicide is wrong. This bill is wrong. It should not pass.”
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who introduced the bill in the Commons last year, said she found the “framing around suicide very uncomfortable”, adding that “the terminally ill people I’ve met are definitely not suicidal”, rather, they are dying.
She said that while Baroness May had made a “very powerful contribution”, the two are “at different sides of this argument and the debate”.
On Baroness May’s suggestion around cover-ups, Ms Leadbeater added: “The last thing that the bill would enable would be cover-ups, because it’s such a thorough process and it creates a framework around the assisted death rather than the lack of framework that there is at the moment.”
Sophie Blake, who has stage 4 breast cancer and is one of the signatories on the letter, told The Independent she found the former prime minister’s language to be “really offensive, very insensitive and hurtful”.
“The [terminally ill] women I know have got the most fierce passion for life. They will go through the most gruelling treatment just to gain extra precious days to be with their loved ones.
“To be told that we are suicidal when we do everything we can, with such determination, in desperation to live longer – to me it feels like there is a complete lack of understanding and acknowledgement of what terminally ill people will go through to live”, she said.
Ms Blake added: “To conflate assisted dying with suicide is not just semantics – it’s deeply cruel. We are not suicidal, we are dying. We deserve the chance to face our final days with safety, peace of mind and dignity, not stigma.
Meanwhile, Nathaniel Dye, another signatory of the letter, has previously described the bill as a chance to “act with kindness” and provide people a choice “at their darkest hour”.
Mr Dye, who has terminal cancer, told a Westminster press conference earlier this year that without this legislation, he would be left with “no choice whatsoever: I die in pain or I die in pain”.
The bill, as it stands, requires an application for an assisted death to be approved by two doctors and an expert panel. It would make assisted dying available to adults in England and Wales with a terminal diagnosis of less than six months to live.
With around 190 peers having put their names down to speak across the two-day debate, it could surpass the previous record of 187, for the EU withdrawal bill’s second reading debate in 2018.
Last Friday’s debate, during which 89 peers gave their views, will resume on Friday at 10am.
Baroness May has been contacted for comment.
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you
