Philosopher warns against ‘frightening moral order’ of assisted suicide

Legalising state-sponsored suicide would be a “monumental mistake”, a prominent philosopher has warned.

Kathleen Stock OBE, former Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sussex, argues that the “institutionalisation of assisted death” would detrimentally ‘alter the fabric of society’ and introduce a new “frightening moral order”.

Welcoming Holyrood’s rejection of Liam McArthur’s Bill and the expectation that legislation before Westminster will time-out, she sets out a “philosophically-informed case” against adopting assisted suicide laws.

Freedom and mercy

In an opinion piece for The Sunday Times, Stock spotlights an “unnoticed deep confusion at the heart of the assisted death project”.

“Supporters tend to appeal to two philosophical ideals simultaneously, though they barely fit together. The first is freedom or autonomy.”

On this point she contests: “Waxing lyrical about freedom” to determine how and when you die “is different from saying you have a right to be helped” in ending your life.

The second rationale employed by proponents of assisted suicide she identifies “is not freedom at all, but rather old-fashioned mercy”.

But here, she argues, “once you acknowledge the relief of pain and suffering as your main goal,” then the hospice movement and palliative care necessarily “become relevant to the conversation”.

Embedded

Stock concludes: “Politicians might have spent the last year and a half discussing how to save the hospice movement and improve palliative care, but they did not.

“Presumably they realise that assisted death is cheaper. If so, such motivations should not be dressed up in the language of mercy — or indeed freedom— but named honestly out loud, so they too can be discussed.

“Above all, we must recognise that assisted death cannot be isolated from existing systems, and will make large differences to national life. Once it is here, it will be difficult to undo. While we still have time, let’s think hard about what kind of society we want.”

‘Unsafe’

Recently, disability organisation the European Network of Independent Living warned EU states and institutions that assisted suicide “cannot currently be considered a safe or rights-based option”.

Instead, the organisation recommended “ensuring adequate support systems and alternatives”, including “strong safeguards and independent monitoring” to stop human rights violations happening.