In a much publicised and historic day in Parliament today, MPs have backed the Terminally Ill adults (End of Life) Bill – or the Assisted Dying Bill as it has also been referred to – with 330 MPs voting in favour compared to 275 against. This decision ensures that the Bill has cleared its first stage in the Commons and will now involve months of parliamentary activity and proceed to committee stage.
Commenting on today’s decision, Tamasin Perkins, Partner at law firm Charles Russell Speechlys highlights the potential dangers of the bill in the context of coercion and financial decision making as she comments:
“Across the industry, there are concerns around how capacity will be assessed and with medical professionals making an assessment about legal issues such as pressure and coercion.
“We already see many cases of coercion and undue pressure in the context of financial decision-making, such as writing wills or making gifts, so it’s not unreasonable to anticipate that this kind of coercion would go hand in hand with assisted dying.
“The real challenge could lie in detecting coercion during a single interaction, when coercion can manifest itself in small and subtle ways, and the complexity of family dynamics can make this difficult to identify. From a medical perspective, susceptibility to coercion is frequently associated with diminished capacity, as individuals become more vulnerable and easily influenced under these circumstances.”
“We must also ask if the court can manage what will end up being very urgent applications about these decisions, when the Court of Protection is already overburdened, as the worst-case scenario would be delays leading to the wrong decision”.
