Allowing assisted suicide would ‘pressurise disabled to kill themselves’
By Tim Ross, Telegraph
Celebrities including the author Sir Terry Pratchett and the actor Sir Patrick Stewart have backed a campaign to allow terminally ill patients to receive help to die.
But a new poll found 70 per cent of disabled people were concerned that such a reform would create pressure on vulnerable patients to “end their lives prematurely”.
The survey for Scope, the leading disability charity, also found 3 per cent of the 500 disabled people questioned in the ComRes poll feared that they would personally come under pressure to commit suicide if the law were changed.
The findings follow a row over the BBC’s plans to broadcast a programme showing a man taking his own life at the Dignitas suicide clinic in Switzerland. The documentary is to be presented by Sir Terry, who has Alzheimer’s and is a supporter of euthanasia. It is due to be aired this summer.
Richard Hawkes, chief executive of Scope, said: “Assisted suicide is a complex and emotional issue, and there are loud and passionate voices on both sides of the debate.
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