Paralympian receives abuse and harassment for opposing assisted suicide

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, a British peer and Paralympian, has been speaking against efforts to legalize assisted suicide in the United Kingdom (UK). She says that this has resulted in harassing and abusive e-mails.

Key Takeaways:

• Grey-Thompson is a long-time disability advocate who has spoken out against assisted suicide.

• She was born with spina bifida and is a former Paralympian who has won multiple gold medals in wheelchair racing in the Paralympic games.

• As the UK currently considers legalizing assisted suicide, Grey-Thompson has spoken against it, saying it poses a threat to people with disabilities.

• In response, she said people have been sending her abusive messages, though she stands firm in her conviction against assisted suicide.

The Backstory:

As the UK moves towards legalizing assisted suicide, Grey-Thompson has been one of its most outspoken opponents. As the government looks to allow doctors to kill their patients, it is also looking to cut between £5bn and £6bn from disability benefits — which Grey-Thompson rightly said would encourage people with disabilities to die.

"When you understand that we live in a relatively able society, there will be people who sit on the panel who will decide that a disabled person has nothing to offer society and will allow them to end their lives," she said earlier this year about applications to undergo assisted suicide.

She has pointed to the Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) program in Canada as an example; there, people with disabilities have routinely been approved for assisted suicide and euthanasia solely for having disabilities. And in the meantime, many of those people have struggled to find housing or health care, but rather than help those people obtain the support and resources they need, they are simply encouraged to end their lives.

Assisted suicide, she said, “fundamentally changes our relationship with society. Every disabled person who writes to me – and they do write quite a lot – is absolutely terrified about what this means for them."

The Details:

Grey-Thompson has continued to advocate for people with disabilities and their right to live, and for that, she has been receiving abuse and harassment from assisted suicide activists.

"I've had emails [from] people saying, 'thank you so much for protecting us'. And I've had some incredibly abusive ones as well, saying that I'm responsible for people dying in pain, and it will be on me," she said, adding, "It's absolutely appalling that people are scared about how they're going to die. But we should be having proper specialist palliative care."

While Grey-Thompson is not necessarily opposed to assisted suicide on its own, she has repeatedly argued that it puts the lives of people with disabilities in danger. And while she said the bill could still fail, she said she hopes as many safeguards as possible are added to the bill as possible in the meantime.

"It's my intention to bring a number of amendments to make it as safe as it can possibly be. But we do need to have a really detailed discussion," she said.

The Bottom Line:

As Grey-Thompson pointed out herself, countries like Canada show that assisted suicide can never be legalized safely. No matter what safeguards are put in place, they inevitably fall, and the most vulnerable people in society are always the victims.