Assisted suicide could be outsourced to private companies if Kim Leadbeater’s Bill is passed, Government sources have told The Times. The newspaper reports that ministers have “no in-principle objection” to private clinics helping vulnerable patients to kill themselves. Last year, Health Secretary Wes Streeting voted against MP Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill over the unsatisfactory state of NHS palliative care and concerns it could increase the risk of coercion. Contracted outThe newspaper was told that England and Wales “could end up with what you have in the States and Australia, where a ­cohort of doctors specialise in assisted dying”. Normalising suicideLast week a Government suicide prevention advisor warned that legalising assisted suicide undermines society’s long-standing commitment to ending all suicides.

Source: The Times March 07, 2025 13:24 UTC