Born with spina bifida, Andrew knows only too well how tough life can be for disabled people. His life might be marred by daily agony, but that doesn’t mean he will ever support assisted dying.
Andrew, 65, from Fife, Scotland suffers from chronic pain after his left leg was amputated due to his condition. Every day he relies on crutches but he believes that giving people the right to die on their own terms will open the door to abuse.
Today, MPs are taking part in a historic vote that could pave the way for assisted dying to be made legal in England and Wales. Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s Bill proposing to change the law marks the first time the issue has been debated in the Commons in almost a decade but it’s a complex and sensitive issue and not everyone thinks the law should change.
“As a disabled person, who has lived with a extremely painful condition I am worried about what I see happening in countries which have legalised assisted suicide or euthanasia,” Andrew told The Mirror.
“It sends out a chilling message to the most vulnerable in society,” he added. “In the US State of Oregon, the majority of those ending their lives in 2019 cited the fear of being a burden on their families as a reason for wanting to die, while others mentioned financial worries.”
And he worries that in the Netherlands and Belgium, the rules on who qualifies for assistance are becoming blurred. “No longer is state aided killing limited to those with less than six months to live,” Andrew says. “It routinely includes disabled people like me, those with chronic non-terminal conditions and individuals with mental health problems, such as patients with dementia, treatable depression, anorexia and even a victim of sexual abuse.”
For Andrew, one of the most alarming facts is that if he’d been born in another country with his condition, he might never have lived.
“The Netherlands has legalised the euthanasia of babies with the same condition as myself up to the age of two,” he explains. “Those same ‘experts’ are pressing for children with spina bifida up to age 12 to be able to be euthanised. I will not be signing the petition and believe MPs desperately need to address the perilous state of our health care system.
“The government needs to investigate the chronic underfunding of end-of-life care and sort out the crisis in palliative care that sees up to one in four Brits, who would benefit from care not receiving it. Hospices are facing a £50 million shortfall this year.”
Andrew spoke to the Mirror after British woman Vivien Mainwaring told how, after suffering years of ill-health, she was desperate to be allowed to die with dignity when the time comes.
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The Daily Mirror)
The 79-year-old suffers from a ‘cocktail of health issues’ including diabetes and leukaemia and said she’s furious people in the UK have to go to places like Switzerland if they want to die on their own terms.
“I hardly leave home,” she said. “A lot of the time I can’t really walk. I’ve given up gardening and driving as these days I’m having a good day if I can walk to the end of the garden. It isn’t death that’s frightening to me. It’s a long protracted death, as I saw with my parents. I don’t want to be a burden to myself or to anybody else. I’m not saying that I want to die but I’d like to be able to go with some dignity when the time is right.”
The outcome of the vote is expected any moment.