United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s resignation as Labour Party leader and prime minister removes a longtime supporter of assisted suicide and could affect renewed parliamentary fights over end-of-life care and abortion in Britain, according to Right to Life UK.
In a June 22 report, the pro-life group argued that Starmer’s departure could give the next Labour leader an opportunity to stop the return of an assisted suicide bill from advancing and place greater emphasis on hospice and palliative care.
Starmer, who announced June 22 that he would step down after intraparty pressure and weak polling, has long supported legalizing assisted suicide. He voted for a law change in 2015 and later promised assisted suicide campaigner Esther Rantzen that he would allow a vote on the issue if Labour won power, according to Right to Life UK.
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Right to Life UK said Starmer’s government formally remained neutral on Labour lawmaker Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill but gave the measure significant parliamentary time.
The group also criticized Starmer’s record on abortion. Under his tenure as prime minister, a law change in the Crime and Policing Act removed criminal penalties for women who end their own pregnancies. Right to Life UK said the change weakens legal protections for unborn children and could allow women to carry out abortions at home at any stage of pregnancy, including late in pregnancy. Although the measure was not formally introduced by Starmer’s government, it was tabled by a Labour lawmaker and added to a government-backed bill.
Under current law in Great Britain, abortion is generally permitted up to 24 weeks’ gestation, with later abortions allowed in limited cases such as serious risk to the woman’s life or serious fetal abnormality.
While Andy Burnham, widely seen as a leading contender to replace Starmer, has indicated support for assisted suicide, Right to Life UK called Burnham’s stance more conditional than Starmer’s. Burnham has argued that hospices must be properly funded before any change in the law.
A Burnham-led government could therefore see greater emphasis on end-of-life care alternatives before any assisted suicide legislation advances, Right to Life UK argued.
Catherine Robinson, a spokesperson for Right to Life UK, said Starmer’s resignation gives his successor “a real chance” to refocus the government’s attention and urged the next prime minister to ensure the revived assisted suicide bill does not pass its Second Reading on Sept. 11.
“A renewed focus should be placed on improving hospice and palliative care,” Robinson said, “so that the suffering endured by many at the end of life can be ameliorated in a way that gives people dignity, without unnecessarily hastening their death.”
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