No Way Back campaign launched to say no to assisting suicide (PLEASE email your MP by Friday)

Christian Concern has launched a new video and campaign website to raise awareness of the true impact of assisted suicide on disabled and terminally ill people.

The campaign aims to spread awareness of the danger that the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would legalise assisted suicide, poses to the most vulnerable in society.

The dramatic three minute video and website have already been watched and used by thousands of people in the days since its launch on Friday.

The video, launched as part of the No Way Back campaign, tells the story of ‘Aliyah’. It depicts how she perceives the impact of her terminal illness on her sister, Jade. It explores the way in which one person’s ‘choice’ to end their life can lead to many people feeling like they have no other option. By showing the reality of what it is to feel like a burden, it casts light on the pressure assisted suicide exerts on vulnerable people to end their own lives.

The accompanying website has an easy-to-use tool allowing users to generate unique emails for their MPs.

With just two days until the vote, Christian Concern hopes that many people will make full use of the video and website, mobilising to persuade their MPs to vote against the bill on Friday 20 June.

Please click here to email your MP

Assisted suicide ‘is never compassionate’

Paul Huxley, a spokesman for the No Way Back campaign, said: “The availability of assisted suicide puts additional burden on terminally ill people to decide whether their lives are worth living. Even where there is no explicit coercion, people are very easily made to feel that others would be better off without them.

“This is even more of a risk with this bill’s poor safeguards. Doctors will be allowed to raise assisted suicide with patients, increasing the perceived pressure on them to take their lives.

“In Oregon, held up by many as the ‘best’ example of assisted suicide overseas, 43% of patients opting for assisted suicide cited “feeling like a burden” as a motivation. Similar or worse figures are seen in Washington State, Canada and other jurisdictions that provide assisted suicide or euthanasia.

“Assisted suicide is never compassionate. It leaves vulnerable people in the position of justifying their continued treatment and existence.

“What’s more, once this line has been crossed, safeguards and restrictions are consistently relaxed. In Canada, for example, there are multiple instances of individuals undergoing euthanasia or being prompted to consider suicide due to poverty, housing issues, and mental health conditions.

“Terminally ill people deserve better care, not suicide.”

The ‘most profound threat to life’

Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern which is behind the campaign said: “This vote is the most profound threat to life in our nation since 1967.

“Now is the time for us all to resist assisted suicide. We all need to share the video and contact our MPs, urging them to oppose the bill.

“Right now, everyone has a chance to help prevent the United Kingdom from choosing death. If we cross this line, it could take decades to reverse the damage.”

Link to No Way Back website: https://nowayback.org.uk/