Could the Sarco 'Suicide Pod' Be Coming to Britain? Parliament Considers 'Assisted Dying' Bill

The United Kingdom's "Terminally Ill End of Life Bill" now before Parliament would allow mentally competent adults in England and Wales with six months or less left to live the right to end their lives with medical help. 

After the House of Commons voted to advance it to Parliamentary Committee, a fresh debate has ignited over doctor-assisted suicide, which is currently illegal.

Supporters of the bill say it will be subject to strict guidelines. Opponents warn it could be used to pressure the vulnerable, including people with disabilities, into ending their lives. And the 'right to die' could become a 'duty to die.'

Backers point to those who suffer unbearable pain or irreversible decline and wish to end their lives with dignity. 

Kim Leadbeater, who introduced the proposed law, says accusations it would open the door to abuse are wrong. "The title of the bill is 'Terminally Ill.' It is not disabled people. It is not elderly people as someone else referenced. The criteria are very, very clear," Leadbeater told House of Commons members. 

Opponents, however, counter that legalized assisted suicide has led to abuse everywhere it has been introduced. 

"No safeguards on this will ever hold," warns Andrea Williams of Christian Concern. "And it will be almost immediately expanded, as we've seen in Canada and other jurisdictions across the world."

MORE: Canada Admits Staggering Number of Country’s Deaths Last Year Were Assisted Suicide

Williams also rejects claims that it is 'compassionate' to help those suffering end their lives. 

"It is not compassionate to kill," Williams said. "It is kind and compassionate to care. It is kind and compassionate to provide people with the best pain relief, mental, physical, spiritual help that we can."

Becki Bruneau has been battling cancer for 10 years and says she's glad there was no assisted dying law in the UK when she suffered from great pain. 

"At one point I even said to my husband, 'Just let me die,'" Bruneau said. "But that didn't mean, 'Let me die. Give me an injection so that I die.' I was in so much pain that that's how I felt. However, I'm sitting here two years later. But if that bill was, say, two years ago and my husband wasn't around. I wouldn't be here today."

Around the world, at least 17 nations now allow legal assisted suicide under certain conditions. In the U.S., 10 states and the district of Columbia have some form of Physician-Assisted Suicide, either through legislation or a court ruling.  

And there have been abuses.

In Belgium, Tom Mortier's mother was euthanized in 2012 without the family's knowledge, only because she was said to be "incurably depressed." 

Mortier said, "My mother, who was physically healthy, because of her mental problems received a lethal injection from an oncologist."

Mortier only learned of his mother's death from the hospital the day after she died. 

Alistair Thompson of the group Care Not Killing, which opposes the UK bill, warns that British doctors who object to assisted suicide on ethical or religious grounds could lose their jobs.

"Potentially they could be struck off," Thompson said. "So they could be reported to the General Medical Council and would face disciplinary action. And indeed, when, previous polls have been done asking doctors about this, they've said they'd rather quit. Many of them would rather quit than be compelled to talk about assisted suicide to their patients."

Thompson told us the new law could even legalize the Sarco suicide pod in Britain. What some call the "Tesla of suicide machines" was recently used in a suicide in Switzerland. Its inventors claim it allows a person to end their life with just the push of a button.

Thompson said, "The legislation is so badly written that it talks about 'drugs or other substances.' So, it holds open the door, actually, for use of the Sarco pod, the personalized gas chamber."

While one poll shows three-quarters of the British public supporting the assisted dying bill, its passage is by no means assured. After any amendments in committee, the bill must also navigate the House of Lords. If it does pass, some fear that with Britain's already overburdened public health system, the terminally ill could face pressure to end their lives.

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