New Junior Minister Anna Soubry Wants Right To Die Law Shift

Terminally ill people seeking help to die should be allowed to obtain assistance in the UK, a newly promoted health minister has said.

Anna Soubry told the Times it was “ridiculous and appalling” that Britons had to “go abroad to end their life”.

She rejected euthanasia, but said “you have a right to kill yourself”.

The Ministry of Justice has said legalising assisted suicide would allow murder.

Ms Soubry, who was appointed a health minister in a reshuffle earlier this week, called for greater “honesty” over when people would be prosecuted over helping someone to die.

The MP for Broxtowe told the Times: “I think it’s ridiculous and appalling that people have to go abroad to end their life instead of being able to end their life at home.

“You can’t say to a doctor or a nurse, ‘Kill this person’ but…. you have a right to kill yourself.

“The rules that we have about who we don’t prosecute allow things to happen but there’s a good argument that we should be a bit more honest about it.”

The debate over assisted suicide has resurfaced after Tony Nicklinson, a man with locked-in syndrome, died a week after losing a legal bid to end his life.

He embarked on legal proceedings to clarify whether his wife, Jane, would have been prosecuted for injecting him with a lethal dose of drugs.

His legal team argued that the current murder law would have infringed his right to respect for his private life as part of the European Convention on Human Rights.

But three High Court judges rejected his plea for the law to be changed, saying the issue should be left to Parliament.

He passed away days later, having refused food since the ruling.

The law currently draws a crucial distinction between doctors deciding not to provide or continue treatment, which might prolong life, and acting to end a life, by for example administering lethal drugs.

Following the decision by High Court judges with regards to Mr Nicklinson, the British Medical Association said the court had made “the right decision”.

“The BMA is opposed to the legalisation of assisted dying and we are not lobbying for any change in the law in the UK,” it said.