Once again, the assisted dying debate is facing a rushed debate without proper discussion of the implications. This time, ‘lord’ Charlie Falconer was the one hurrying past concerns about whether pregnant people would be allowed to end their lives.
Falconer faced questioning about circumstances that would require extra safeguarding. from baroness Tanni Grey Thompson. The latter is also a disabled campaigner, and has been a fierce opponent to the bill – she’s tabled 115 of the 947 amendments. Some amendments in particular drew a lot of attention, after another blasé reaction from the man who plans to allow people to kill themselves, Falconer.
Assisted dying fears over pregnancy
Speaking during the committee, Grey-Thompson drew attention to her amendments around pregnant people and pregnancy.
Grey-Thompson said:
In 2022, a paper on the epidemiology of cancer in pregnancy found that it occurred in approximately one in 1,000 pregnancies, which would be more than 500 cases a year in England.
She was quick to point out not all these cancers would be terminal, though she also referenced the fact that if the definition of “Terminal” in the bill included treatable illnesses where treatment is refused, more will qualify.
She carried on:
In terms of the numbers who could be impacted by the Bill, this is a really important group of amendments.
Grey-Thompson also drew attention to the fact that debate on this topic didn’t happen in the Commons:
These amendments are definitely probing, but they were not debated in the other place. The equality impact assessment says that a pregnant woman who also meets the eligibility criteria would not be excluded from the process.
Pregnant people much more likely to die by suicide
She also highlighted suicide rates of pregnant people both during and after birth:
Suicide is also the leading cause of maternal death during pregnancy in industrialised countries and the leading cause of maternal mortality in the first 12 months after childbirth. Professor Mark Taubert, hospital consultant and clinical director in palliative medicine at the Velindre University NHS Trust in Wales, has raised this issue many times.
It would be useful for further information to be provided on the impact of the Bill on pregnant women or those who have recently given birth, particularly given the risk of postnatal depression and other pregnancy and maternity-related mental health conditions.
Grey Thompson raised the need for anyone who can get pregnant to be required to take a pregnancy test. She cited that you’re asked if you’re pregnant before any other procedure. She also informed the house that nearly all other countries that have legalised assisted dying have clauses and safeguards for pregnant people.
Falconer dismisses concerns, again
Despite this, the issue of pregnancy was unfortunately brushed over for debate on prisoners, which it was also included with, though many other members drew attention to it. Finally, an hour and a half after Grey-Thompson first mentioned pregnancy, Falconer responded dismissively:
The amendments say that no pregnant woman should have the right to an assisted death and that everybody who wants an assisted death must have a pregnancy test. The noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, made it clear that the second was a probing amendment and not a serious proposition.
He carried on:
In relation to pregnant women, I completely accept what is being said, particularly by my noble friend Lady Berger, about what the statistics show. Again, safeguards can adequately deal with this and I am not in favour of any change in relation to it. We should remember that what we are dealing with here is somebody who has only six months to live. Homeless people—
He was cut off by lord Mackinlay asking:
There is a big issue here. Other states around the world which have had assisted dying for some time have differences of view. In Oregon, which has had assisted dying since 1997, there is a requirement to keep the mother alive for as long as possible, particularly when there is a viable foetus. The Netherlands takes a completely different view, with foeticide—where the foetus must be terminated by one means or another, often by intracardial injection of potassium chloride—before the mother can be euthanised.
At which end of the scale does the noble and learned Lord prefer these things?
Falconer responded:
Some countries have taken one view and other countries have taken another. It is clear from the choice that I am supporting that we take the view that pregnancy should not be a bar to it, though inevitably, as the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, said, there should be questions in relation to appropriate people, whether they are pregnant or not, which may have an effect on the result.
Yep, you read that right, Falconer thinks “pregnancy should not be a bar” to assisted dying. Essentially, someone with an illness who can’t have treatment because they’re pregnant, but is being flooded with pregnancy hormones to the point of being driven suicidal, will be able to have a state-sanctioned death.
Assisted dying supporters don’t care who this hurts
There’s also the very clear issue that not enough is being done to safeguard people against coercion and domestic violence. By allowing pregnant people to have an assisted death there is added risk that they could be coerced into it by a partner or seek it as an escape from the violence. Until there are more thorough safeguards in place, this will be a risk – and at the moment we’re not seeing that.
As Grey-Thompson said on Twitter
Being pregnant is hard enough. Then you get a diagnosis of a potentially terminal illness. Rare cancer but it does happen. You’re struggling and possibly in a difficult relationship. And then someone talks to you about assisted dying ……
This latest to the committee shows once again just how dangerous this is. But more than that, just how hellbent people like Falconer and Leadbeater are to push it through, despite who it will hurt. It’s been absolutely bizarre to see just how obsessed with this bill it’s supporters are. It’s even clearer now that they don’t give a fuck who will be collateral.
Featured image via the Canary
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