Editor’s note. This is from SPUC – the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.
The Economist magazine reports that although reported cases of people helping someone to commit suicide have increased, the number of arrests and prosecutions has fallen. Euthanasia campaigners Dignity in Dying say this means the law should be changed.
The Economist asked all police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service [CPS] how many offences of assisted suicide they had recorded between the start of 2010 and the end of September 2016, and how many people had been arrested and charged.
In total, 83 separate offences were recorded by 43 police forces (six did not respond). From single digits between 2010 and 2013, the number of offences rose to 17 in 2014 and 23 in 2015. In the first nine months of last year, 12 offences were recorded.
No charges since 2014
In contrast, 17 arrests were made in 2010, 13 in 2015 and four in the first nine months of 2016. In the period of almost seven years, four people were charged with offences, none since 2014.
We need to protect vulnerable people
“The Economist’s findings make depressing reading and show that despite the increasing number of assisted suicides, prosecutions are very rare,” said Dr Anthony McCarthy of SPUC.
Unsurprisingly, Dignity in Dying, with the uncritical support of The Economist, is exploiting such news as a means of achieving assisted suicide (and ultimately euthanasia) by the back door. We call on the medical profession and all those involved in law enforcement to uphold, not undermine, the laws that protect vulnerable people. Parliament recently overwhelmingly rejected the Marris Assisted Suicide Bill. Groups such as Dignity in Dying may be able to use The Economist as a mouthpiece, but they pose a threat to the law of the land and to sick and depressed people and their families who may feel pressured to help arrange their suicides.
Dr McCarthy added
Those who would normalise assisted suicide betray not only those physically ill people who do not currently value their own lives, but also all those who are tempted to choose ‘conventional’ suicide, which seems to increase, not decrease, where assisted suicide is legalised.