Interview
Assisted dying: why Britain should back a change
- MPs in England and Wales are scheduled to vote on an assisted dying bill within one week, with significant uncertainty surrounding the outcome due to wavering support, including explicit opposition from Health Secretary Wes Streeting and potential doubts among new MPs elected in July.
- The proposed legislation, expected to begin its full parliamentary process on November 29th, would establish the world's strictest safeguards requiring terminal patients to have less than six months to live and securing approval from two doctors and a high court judge to prevent coercion.
- Concerns exist that these rigorous restrictions could create a "straitjacket" limiting access for terminally ill patients, while counterarguments cite successful implementation in Victoria, Australia, where uptake remains low at approximately one percent of total deaths over five and a half years without evidence of coercion.
- The bill faces criticism for its rushed legislative development, noting a contrast with the Victorian process that lasted over 100 hours, with expectations that a failure to pass could conclude the debate for the immediate future given the last instance was in 2015.
- Predictions for the US Supreme Court indicate that Donald Trump could appoint one or two justices in the next year or two if justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito step down, potentially leading to three or four appointments by 2028 to extend a six-to-three conservative balance for decades.
- Potential replacements for the current oldest justices include younger judges such as James Ho and Andrew Oldham from the Fifth Circuit, whose views on issues like birthright citizenship are under scrutiny.
- Despite a projected conservative shift, the Court is expected to act as a guardrail against extreme executive actions, potentially blocking moves to rescind citizenship for children of migrants, though this outcome depends on Justice Amy Coney Barrett aligning with Chief Justice John Roberts or Brett Kavanaugh.
- Future judicial appointments are anticipated to have a profound, long-lasting legacy on American society, building on recent decisions that overturned Roe v. Wade, expanded gun rights, reduced administrative agency power, and granted presidential immunity from criminal prosecution.
- Observations from Victoria suggest that robust palliative care correlates with lower assisted dying uptake, and Australian medical professionals have reported families often attempting to dissuade patients from proceeding rather than coercing them.