The assisted dying debate said one thing: better dead, than disabled

In a betrayal of disabled communities, MPs voted through the assisted dying bill by a narrow margin. In the end, 23 votes separated the two sides, with 314 voting for, and 291 against. This was even after warnings from activists, charities, and medical professionals on the impact for disabled people.

The bill will now head to the house of lords before it can become law. However, realistically, the most the house of lords can do is delay it on its way to becoming law. The day of this vote on assisted dying – or, more accurately, assisted suicide – is a dark day for disabled people.

Assisted dying debate on whether disabled people should live

This feeling was exemplified by MP Jen Craft who recalled how once her daughter was diagnosed with Downs syndrome, a nurse told her she could book an abortion within 48 hours. Craft spoke passionately, when she said:

I’ve had to fight for so many things for her because the establishment does not see her life as valuable.

It’s an experience that is very familiar to chronically ill and disabled people. Craft has hit the nail on the head in describing the implicit assumption that underpins British society: better dead, than disabled. The Canary is proud to have many writers on our staff and regular readers who are disabled. Any one of us can probably tell you the casual conversations we’ve had with abled people who express, in one form or another, that they’d rather be dead than live with whatever we have.

Bradford West MP Naz Shah explained that while she was in support of the principles of allowing people a dignified death:

this debate is no longer about the principle of assisted death – that is not the decision before us today, and nor is it the issue that we will be walking through those lobbies for when we are deciding to vote for or against this bill.

The bill that was in front of MPs was not one that will guarantee dignified deaths for those who need them. It is a woefully under-debated piece of legislation that doesn’t have safeguards which make it fit for purpose. Coming just days after the welfare reform bill which will make it harder for disabled people to live, how can it be considered anything but state-sanctioned murder of disabled people?

The government could have done so much more – or failing that, even one single thing – to make it easier for disabled people to exist. Instead, they’re gathering savings wherever they can. As far as they’re concerned, as long as the disabled people end up dead one way or the other, the savings are worth it.

Grim realities

Vicky Foxcroft, who resigned the whip just hours before the debate, said:

I don’t claim that every disabled person opposes assisted dying, but I do claim that the vast majority of disabled people and their organisations oppose it.

They need the health and social care system fixing first. They want us as parliamentarians to assist them to live, not to die.

Foxcroft criticised disabled people being shut out of the bill’s progression:

Disabled people’s voices matter in this debate, and yet, as I’ve watched the Bill progress, the absence of disabled people’s voices has been astonishing. They have wanted to engage. Indeed, they have been crying out to be included, yet the engagement has been negligible.

Her recognition is, unfortunately, a rare one in modern politics. But, as with her resignation, it makes her voice matter all the more in this grim political climate. As grim as this day has been for disabled people, there have been a select few who have pushed back against the ableism and eugenics of this government.

Mother of the house, Diane Abbott, delivered an impassioned speech, saying:

I came to this house to be a voice for the voiceless. It hasn’t always been favoured by my own leadership, but that is why I came to the house. Who could be more voiceless than somebody who is in their sickbed and believes they are dying?

I ask members in this debate to speak up for the voiceless one more time, because there is no doubt that if this bill is passed in its current form, people will lose their lives who do not need to, and they will be amongst the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society.

It is not because I am opposed to assisted dying in principle, but because my concern is for vulnerable and marginalised persons, vulnerable and marginalised communities, that I implore the house to reject this bill.

We go again

People who did not need to die, people who did not want to die will die because of the bill passed today in the house of commons. As usual, disabled people have been ignored by those in power. But, let’s not lose sight of just what it means to be in the disabled community. For too long, disability politics have been dominated by white and middle class people. But, there are many of us, poor, trans, queer, people of colour who are disabled. Our voices matter too.

And whilst we need to feel the rage and fear of this moment, we also need to do more. We need to make disabled justice spaces much, much more expansive. It terrifying to think of those who are multiply marginalised who will be swallowed up when this bill becomes law. It’s exhausting, just the thought of fucking picking ourselves up again. But, we have no choice.

Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Sky News