A new Government assessment of the revived assisted suicide Bill, which MPs will vote on at Second Reading on 11 September, has warned that poverty, poorer access to healthcare, lower-quality care and domestic abuse could lead to “disproportionate numbers of ethnic minority people” opting to end their lives through assisted suicide, as new Government modelling has increased its central estimate of assisted deaths by 60%.
The new warning comes after the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, said “the fixing of the funding of palliative care and social care” needs to happen before Parliament debates whether to introduce assisted suicide. Burnham said it would be deeply challenging to hold that debate while people were not receiving the care they needed or the peace of mind that such care would be available.
