False choice
Assisted dying is not as progressive as it seems - Labour should think twice before reviving the bill, argues Rhoda Grant
My Labour colleague Lauren Edwards has announced that she intends to revive the assisted dying bill in parliament this term. I believe that would be a mistake. Several Labour MPs have already warned that reopening the issue now would create unnecessary division, and others who previously supported the bill have made clear they do not back any attempt to force it through using the Parliament Acts.
When I, alongside 16 of the other 19 Scottish Labour MSPs, voted against assisted dying in Holyrood, it was because of our left-wing values, not in spite of them. Too often this debate is lazily framed as compassionate progressives on one side and socially conservative opponents on the other. That caricature bears little resemblance to the debate we had in Scotland. Some of the strongest opposition came from people shaped by the Labour tradition: solidarity, equality, disability rights and the duty to protect vulnerable people from economic and social pressure.
Assisted dying forces us to confront an uncomfortable question: what happens when the state offers death in a society that still struggles to guarantee dignity in life?
The Labour movement was built on the belief that people are not truly free when hemmed in by poverty, insecurity, isolation or structural disadvantage. That belief underpinned the creation of the NHS: a moral declaration that dignity and basic rights should never depend on wealth, status or perceived productivity.
Assisted dying risks undermining that principle.
Supporters often present these laws as empowering choice. But choice does not exist in a vacuum. A decision made by someone with excellent care, secure housing, strong family support and financial stability is not the same as a “choice” made by someone who feels like a burden, unable to access adequate care, fears loneliness or believes their needs are exhausting their family.
That is why so many disability campaigners remain deeply uneasy about assisted dying legislation. In unequal societies, pressure does not always look like coercion. It can be cultural, economic and emotional. The absence of real support can quietly narrow a person’s sense of what choices are available.
During Scotland’s debate, many of us became concerned that assisted dying was being presented as progressive simply because it expanded autonomy in theory. But the left has always understood that freedom means little without protection behind it. In Canada, reports have emerged of disabled and vulnerable people seeking assisted death amid poverty, insecure housing or inadequate support. Even where formal safeguards exist, the broader message can become dangerous: that some lives are too costly, burdensome or lacking in dignity to sustain.
Marie Curie Scotland’s report, Dying in the Margins, shows the reality of terminal illness and poverty. It reminds us that the priority should be ensuring people can live their final days with dignity, care and support, regardless of personal wealth. Those days are precious to individuals and their loved ones. Our task should be to improve them, not to make death easier to access because life has been made harder to endure.
The pandemic offered a warning. Elderly and disabled people were encouraged in some cases to sign ‘do not resuscitate’ declarations amid fears that the NHS could be overwhelmed. That experience should make us cautious about assuming our systems can always provide the careful governance such a profound legal change would require.
I understand that many who support assisted dying are motivated by compassion and a desire for autonomy. Some have the financial security and personal support to make that feel like a genuine choice. But many do not. When we make law, we must make it for the whole of society, not only for the fortunate few.
Many Scottish Labour MSPs concluded that assisted dying sits uneasily beside the founding values of the welfare state. A society committed to equality and collective care should be wary of laws that may, however unintentionally, place pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives. Those of us who want a society of equals should support legislation that promotes life, care and hope rather than death and despair. I urge Labour colleagues in Westminster to follow Scotland’s lead and resist attempts to bring back this bill.
