Letters: Readers’ responses to the proposed assisted dying bill

MPs debate the assisted dying bill in parliament during its second reading

The debate on assisted dying is very personal for people on both sides, with painful experiences involving the loss of loved ones.

But I think it’s for individuals to determine the quality of their life —and for the state and society to respect that decision.

We are for bodily and personal autonomy.

Rich people have the choice to travel to Dignitas in Switzerland and pay for help to end their suffering.

I think working class people should have the same choice to end their lives with dignity. 

The proposed bill says adults with a terminal illness who are expected to die within six months are eligible for an assisted death. They must have the mental capacity to make that choice, and express a “clear, settled and informed” wish, free from coercion or pressure.

The bill explicitly excludes disability and mental distress, as well as people facing intolerable suffering who are not dying.

It is far more restrictive than similar laws elsewhere. And many of its supporters are also campaigning for more resources for palliative care.

Roddy Slorach, East London

Socialist Worker’s article regarding assisted dying makes a brief mention of palliative care, which is extremely underfunded.

The BBC reported on 17 March 2022 that more than 1,300 patients a year were having NHS funding for their palliative care withdrawn after “living longer than expected”.

Finding funds to pay for end of life care causes huge stress for working class people. This could easily see a terminally ill person feeling that they aren’t in “control”.

On “body autonomy”, we should make a distinction between assisted dying and  abortion. A foetus is not a person.

Julie, Nottingham

It’s about our control over our lives without state or church control.

I’m not there yet, but am getting on a bit.  When my time comes I want a choice—good palliative care or help with ending my life if and when I want. 

John Shemeld, Nottingham

The right to die can only be fairly implemented in a society where all people have equal access to the support to live.

Until this is a reality, socialists should oppose its introduction.

Services are stripped to the bone. If assisted dying becomes law, for many the “choice” to die will be no choice at all but an economic compulsion.

The illegal use of Do Not Resuscitate orders during the pandemic highlights the threat such a law would pose to disabled people.

Mark Dunk, South London

Syrian coups

Anne Alexander has written an excellent overview of the fall of the Assad dynasty.

But Anne’s statement that “the events of the last week feel like a replay of scenes from the early 1950s when a succession of coups toppled unpopular governments in Damascus” is badly misleading.

The context was radically different.

Western imperialism was on the back foot after Britain and France failed to overthrow Gamal Abdel Nasser’s radical nationalist regime in Egypt in 1956.

Arab nationalism and Pan-Arabism were in the ascendancy and Egypt and Syria competed for the leadership of the Arab struggle against Israel.

By contrast, Assad’s overthrow has removed the last, rotten remnant of this kind of secular nationalism.

And, whereas the Syrian state survived intact through many upheavals, it has been pulverised by the last 13 years of war.

The United States, Russia, Turkey, Isis, Kurdish forces and assorted Islamist militias have carved out territorial enclaves. They, along with Israel, will contend for domination.

I share Anne’s hope that, amid this turmoil “workers and the poor can seize the chance to organise themselves”.

But we shouldn’t underestimate the scale of the repression that the Assad regime unleashed to crush the popular revolution of 2011.

Alex Callinicos, North London

Assassination shows class anger in the US

I don’t think assassinating CEOs is a replacement for mass workers’ action.

But the reaction to the assassination of UnitedHealthcare boss Brian Thompson showed that fury at the bosses is widespread in the US.

It’s not surprising the media is noting that Americans have no sympathy for Thompson.

Why would they when he is an architect of a healthcare system that leads to death and suffering for millions of people every year?

Sophie Squire, Devon