The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, dubbed the ‘assisted dying bill’, has been presented to Parliament. It proposes legalisation of assisted dying for terminally ill adults expected to die within six months, with the need for authorisation by two doctors and a High Court judge, among other conditions. What position the workers’ movement should take on assisted dying has been a subject of debate, including in the retired members section of the PCS civil service union which debated the issue at its National Forum earlier this year. Alexis Edwards, retired PCS member, makes her contribution to the debate.
Socialists have long fought for the demand for the ‘right to choose’ when and whether to have children: “My body, my choice”. Now it is a demand being raised linked to an individual’s right to choose when and how to end their life.
Jon Dale’s article ‘Assisted dying: what would a socialist programme look like?’ (March 2024) asks whether assisted dying should be legalised in Britain. Polls at that time indicated three in four support this. Jon explains in his article that under capitalism there is no equality of choice.
Working-class families face harsh choices every day – when shopping for food and other essentials, when deciding whether to turn up the heating or where we can afford to live. These choices impact on all aspects of our lives ‘from the cradle to the grave’.
If we look at the ‘right to choose’ when and whether to have children, including in relation to access to free abortions, the choice for the poor and for the wealthy is never equal. The wealthy have always had access to all the support they need to bring up their children; they have secure, safe homes with the space they need; they have the means to provide the best equipment, toys, food; they have the freedom to decide whether to work or stay home; they don’t need to rely on family support, they can pay for cleaners and nannies.
The less fortunate never have equal freedom of choice, the pressures to opt for an abortion are far greater. Prior to winning access to free abortions for all, the wealthy always had access to privately paid for abortions and care. They never had to consider cramped, poor housing conditions; job security; childcare costs etc – all these things have an influence on that ‘right to choose’. As socialists, however, we never raised these influences that may pressure women/families into decisions they might otherwise not make, as a reason to oppose abortion rights. We raised then, as we always have and continue to do, the need for a fully funded health service, fully funded free childcare and education, and decent housing. Still today, there are women who feel they have no choice but to abort a pregnancy due to their circumstances and living conditions – at least they can now do this safely.
We need to take the same approach to our rights throughout our lives. We recognise that capitalism can never meet our needs, it is designed to use us to benefit the system at our expense. So, while fighting to change society, we continue to make demands for the best we can get.
If we apply this principle to the end of our lives, it is absolutely correct that we demand the rights to access assisted dying – the right to choose. There is a lot of fear, particularly amongst the elderly that, rather than giving them access to the right to choose, due to the pressures of poor housing, lack of support and ‘being a burden’, assisted dying will be too easy an option to ‘get rid of them’.
As things stand now, decisions are made about an individual’s end of life which take into account an individual’s access to facilities and care. There are existing inequalities at the end of life, as there are throughout life, and socialists should fight to end those inequalities.
As Jon’s article explains, end of life choices are not the same for the poor as they are for the wealthy. But that is not an argument to deny us that right. It is an argument to make the demands; for decent housing; for fully funded health care, including palliative care; for nationalised care facilities; and for the right to choose. But most importantly to fight to end the capitalist system that limits our life choices – for a socialist society to truly meet all our needs ‘from the cradle to the grave’.
