by Daniel Friery, The Critic
The early supporters of assisted suicide had sinister motivations
You have to hand it to them: “Dignity in Dying” are masters of re-branding. Over recent years, the lead lobby group behind attempts to legalise assisted suicide for the sick and elderly has adopted a new name, celebrity backers, and even the colour pink in an attempt to communicate a warm and comforting image.
But my trip to the organisation’s archives — housed at the Wellcome Collection in London — illuminated a more sinister past, which cannot be glossed over by a lick of pink paint.
Founded in 1935 by medical eugenicist Dr C. Killick Millard as the “Voluntary Euthanasia Legalisation Society” (VELS), its stated purpose was to change the law to allow doctors to terminate the lives of incurable patients at their request. A noble cause one may think — until a scan through the Society’s documents reveals a disturbing motivation, and you are left with the question: is this really a legacy to endorse?
“Relieving society of a useless burden”
Addressing members of the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society in 1936, Dr Millard set out his stall: “The objection based on the sacredness of life must be dismissed. The popular opinion about suicide is undergoing rapid change.” He called the voluntary euthanasia of the sick, “a last service to society by relieving it of a useless burden.”
Criticism of the assisted suicide Bill currently before Parliament (resurrected by Labour MP Lauren Edwards) has focused on concerns that people will opt for a suicide they don’t really want in order to avoid being a “burden”.
But Dignity in Dying’s history shows that, far from this being an unfortunate by-product, it used to be part of the design.