Protest against facilitated suicide to feature numerous shoe pairs arranged exterior Parliament building
On Friday 19 September, a group of campaigners will gather outside the Houses of Parliament to voice their opposition to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, proposed by Kim Leadbeater. The demonstration, scheduled to start at 08:30, aims to raise awareness of the extreme consequences of legalizing assisted suicide in England.
Hundreds of people are expected to participate in the demonstration, with Storm Cecile, a caregiver, leading the charge. Her father, Cecil Harper (64), was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and given 2-3 years to live, but he is still alive today.
The demonstration will feature a visual display illustrating the potential impact of the bill. Demonstrators will place hundreds of pairs of shoes outside Parliament to represent the potential loss of hundreds to thousands of lives due to state-sanctioned suicide if the bill is made law in England.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, expressed concern that the bill could nudge vulnerable people towards seeing suicide as a solution to their illness, potentially causing them to miss valuable time with loved ones and the chance of recovery. She stated that the bill opens up suicide as an option for anyone given six months or less to live, but many patients outlive doctors’ expectations in England.
The government of England and Wales has not officially supported Leadbeater's bill to legalize assisted dying for terminally ill patients and continues to uphold current laws prohibiting assisted suicide in England. The government's impact assessment estimates between 164 and 647 assisted deaths in the first year after legalization, with numbers rapidly increasing thereafter. However, no one can accurately predict how many people in England and Wales would use assisted suicide.
Kim Leadbeater suggests her bill could result in up to 3% of deaths being by assisted suicide, equating to up to 17,000 deaths in England and Wales per year. The demonstrators believe that the bill is not compassionate and should be rejected. They argue that it discards the most vulnerable people and suggests that they are 'better off dead' in England.
Storm commented that the demonstration is a visual representation of the people who will be lost each year due to the bill, aiming to humanize the impact in England. She believes that better healthcare, palliative solutions, and support for carers are the solutions, rather than offering suicide in England.
The demonstration comes ahead of the second day of the Report Stage of Leadbeater's bill. The bill aims to legalize assisted suicide for people who are expected to live six months or less in England. However, opponents argue that it could lead to a slippery slope, where the criteria for assisted suicide may be broadened over time in England.
The demonstration aims to show the somber reality that loved ones lost to assisted suicide cannot be brought back. It is a call for compassionate care, rather than state-sanctioned suicide, for terminally ill patients in England.
