Andy Burnham’s government has admitted that its assisted dying bill will “coerce” disabled people to end their life early.
The legislation, which would have allowed private companies to carry out the killings, ran out of parliamentary time in April, but was promptly re-tabled in the “exact same” form.
The government’s impact assessment on the exhumed Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill admits that disabled people and ethnic minority groups will be “coerced” on to the euthanasia pathway.
This will happen through a combination of “structural pressures”, abusive family relationships and lack of services, a government report reads.
Coercion and pressure
Evidence suggests that disabled people may be more susceptible to feeling as though they are a burden on those around them. Pressure is not necessarily felt or applied by other people—disabled people may feel subtle pressure due to attitudinal barriers or a lack of alternative appropriate services and support (for example, when accessing palliative care). [This could also include structural pressures such as neglect, poverty and difficult living conditions (see references 32 and 33)] Disabled people are also twice as likely (compared with non-disabled people) to be victims of domestic abuse which includes coercive behaviour (see reference 7)
Recent discussion has also considered whether people from ethnic minority backgrounds may be more susceptible to coercion. This could happen as a result of structural pressures such as high rates of poverty, poorer healthcare access, lower quality care and disproportionate levels of domestic abuse committed on Black and Asian women (see reference 34). Structural pressures could subsequently result in disproportionate numbers of ethnic minority people choosing to have an assisted death to avoid financial hardship or escape abuse.
Labour MP Rupa Huq accused the Burnham government of “sneaking out” the impact assessment on assisted dying.
Huq said it confirmed her fears and that she will be voting against it. However, she is likely to be part of the minority among the Starmer clone-infested party and its gifted Commons majority.
Extremely disturbing news. Some of us been warning that vulnerable categories are most at risk once the door is open to this dangerous process
I will be voting against #AssistedDyingBill again on 11th Sept and the impact assessment snuck out underlines this https://t.co/CSAS384F4F
— Rupa Huq MP (@RupaHuq) August 30, 2026
Featured image via the Canary
By Skwawkbox
