Assisted Dying Should Not Be Legalized Until Palliative and Social Care Systems Are Fixed
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/zubir-ahmed. "As a doctor, I say this: before we even consider assisted dying, fix how we care for the most vulnerable | Zubir Ahmed | The Guardian." August 25, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The author, a doctor and former minister, argues that Britain shouldn't legalize assisted dying while its palliative and social care systems are so inconsistent and underfunded. He says that if someone chooses to die partly because they can't get good care, that's not really a free choice—it's a symptom of a broken system that should be fixed first.
Conclusion
Parliament should reject the assisted dying bill because introducing assisted dying before fixing inadequate palliative and social care systems would not represent a genuine free choice for vulnerable people.
Premises
- A person's wish to die is shaped by their circumstances, including whether they feel supported, fear being a burden, and have access to adequate care.
- Access to palliative and social care in England and Wales is currently a 'postcode lottery,' with rural areas and areas of high inequality receiving inadequate support.
- A choice between dying without adequate care and choosing assisted death is not a genuine free choice.
- The medicalised assisted dying process itself carries risks of complications and does not guarantee the controlled, painless death that is promised to the public.
- Numerous medical bodies (Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Psychiatrists, British Geriatrics Society, etc.) have raised serious concerns about flaws in the assisted dying bill.
- The NHS was founded on the principle that healthcare should be available based on need, not circumstance—a principle undermined by current care disparities.
- Similar concerns led 85% of Labour MSPs in Scotland to vote against assisted dying legislation.
Assumptions
- Improving palliative and social care to an adequate standard is achievable and should be prioritized before considering assisted dying.
- The current inadequacies in care systems are severe enough to compromise the voluntariness of assisted dying decisions.
- Sequencing matters—that reforms must happen in a particular order (care first, then assisted dying debate) rather than being pursued in parallel.
- Medical professional bodies' concerns accurately reflect flaws in the bill rather than institutional caution or bias.
- Patients' choices are invalidated or coerced by systemic care gaps, rather than still being autonomous even within an imperfect system.
- The risks and imperfections of assisted dying processes are sufficient reason to delay legalization rather than to improve the processes themselves.