More than 3,000 medical professionals in the United Kingdom have signed an open letter to Prime Minister Kier Starmer, urging him to refrain from plans to legalize assisted suicide.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater is expected to publish a draft legislation on the practice.
Instead of pushing assisted suicide legislation, medical professionals have called for government leaders to focus on reforming its National Health Service.
“We write with great concern regarding the introduction of a Bill to legalise doctor-assisted suicide. The NHS is broken, with health and social care in disarray. Palliative care is woefully underfunded and many lack access to specialist provision,” the letter says. “The thought of assisted suicide being introduced and managed safely at such a time is remarkably out of touch with the gravity of the current mental health crisis and pressures on staff.“
The letter’s signatories emphasized that the “shift from preserving life to taking life is enormous and should not be minimised.”
“The prohibition of killing is present in all societies due to the immeasurable worth and inherent dignity of every human life. The prohibition of killing is the safeguard. The current law is the protection for the vulnerable.”
“Any change would threaten society’s ability to safeguard vulnerable patients from abuse; it would undermine the trust the public places in physicians; and it would send a clear message to our frail, elderly and disabled patients about the value that society places on them as people,” the letter continues.
“As healthcare professionals, we have a legal duty of care for the safety and wellbeing of our patients. We, the undersigned, will never take our patients’ lives – even at their request. But for the sake of us all, and for future generations, we ask do not rush in to hasty legislation but instead fund excellent palliative care,” the doctors and healthcare professionals conclude.
According to The Telegraph, the letter was signed by 2,038 doctors, 905 nurses, and 462 other healthcare workers.