Alarm at plan to outsource UK ‘assisted dying’ to private sector

The Times reported that if “assisted dying” is legalised, the UK government is considering contracting it to the private sector, to ease pressure on the National Health Service. The UK Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has made no secret of his concern that legalising “assisted dying” would place too much pressure on the NHS.

Members of Parliament voted in favour of an assisted dying bill in November 2024, at its second reading. The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is now under the scrutiny of a parliamentary committee, which is examining how “assisted dying” might work in England and Wales.

The bill will likely be reported back in the next few months, and then MPs will be given a chance to vote again at third reading, having assessed the committee’s recommendations. If it passes the third reading, the bill will then have to progress through the House of Lords before it can receive royal assent and become law.

Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right to Life UK, said that introducing assisted suicide would be a disaster waiting to happen, and this would potentially be made even worse if outsourced to the private sector.

A perverse incentive to push assisted suicide on patients could be created, as such a business aims at efficiency, speed and maximising profits, she said. Checks and safeguards could easily be seen as an inconvenience and a barrier to business.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference for England and Wales said: “We have consistently opposed the bill to legalise assisted suicide in principle. We encourage all Catholics in England and Wales to make their voices heard and contact their MPs to ask them to vote against it at third reading.”

UK pro-life leaders warn of ‘disaster’ in outsourcing assisted dying to private sector | Catholic News Agency (By Madeleine Teahan/Catholic News Agency)