A Christian psychotherapist, county councillor, wife and mother, who has overcome life-threatening illnesses as a child and adult, is speaking out against the government’s proposed ‘Assisted Dying’ Bill, which has its second reading in Parliament this Friday (29 November.)
Becki Bruneau, 58, from Kent, highlights the risks of coercion in the proposals and how, if made law, they will ‘prey on vulnerable people.’
When she was 14, Becki suffered a serious brain injury and doctors told her parents that she would be a ‘vegetable’ for the rest of her life.
Re-learning to walk and talk, however, Becki began to recover, and despite ongoing hearing issues, has gone on to have a career, family and take part in high-level gymnastics. She has even trained to be an opera singer.
Looking back to life after her injury and having lived in Belgium which in 2014 extended the right to euthanasia to children, she said: “I probably would have been bumped off if this Bill had been in place then. If it goes through, we will be on more than a slippery slope. I have no doubt that once that door is opened, the next step would be for it to be extended to children as we have seen in other countries across the world.”
In the last 10 years, Becki has also battled cancer four times. She said that the chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment were so painful, that in hospital she said to her husband: ‘Let me die.’
She says she is so glad that she had her husband by her side who would not have allowed any medical professionals to end her life and knew what her pro-life beliefs were, despite her suffering.
“The pain was so bad that I felt like I wanted to die,” she said, “but I could not take my own life or allow someone to take it from me in an organised way. Life is precious, we may feel like dying, but that does not mean you give up.”
“When I think about the proposals in this Bill”, she says, “I think about people in the same position as me, but who do not have a supportive husband, or family by their side. You could not be in a more vulnerable position.”
‘Toxic sludge’ before death
The legislation, tabled by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, will require two independent doctors to determine whether the person satisfies the criteria to take their own life.
A judge will then have to take evidence from at least one of the doctors, and could question the terminally-ill person themselves, before deciding whether they should be allowed to self-administer the fatal medication.
This process should take at least three weeks unless the person’s death is more imminent than that, according to the Bill.
It stipulates that at least seven days must elapse between the two doctors making their assessment and a further 14 days after the judge has made a ruling.
The Bill also allows doctors to “prepare a medical device which will enable that person to self-administer the substance and…assist that person to ingest or otherwise self-administer the substance”.
Palliative care doctors have warned that the proposed new law could see terminally-ill people swallowing toxic ‘sludge’ of drugs under time pressure.
Becki says these proposals are ‘terrifying’ and emphasises: “I do not think it is not assisted dying, it is euthanasia. They are changing the wording to try and make out it is something different, but it isn’t.”
Open to abuse
The proposals stipulate that it will be illegal for anyone who “by dishonesty, coercion or pressure” induces another person either to make a declaration that they want to take their own lives or to self-administer the medication ending their lives.
Becki believes this is “completely open to abuse and will prey on vulnerable people who do not have anyone by their side to support them.”
Indeed, the two most experienced parliamentarians, Sir Edward Leigh and Dianne Abbott, have this week united against what they call ‘this dangerous Bill.’
They urge MPS to reject the Bill and state that there can be no safeguards that would prevent an assisted dying law from being abused and say that ‘it must remain illegal.’
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, has also said that the government should invest in caring for people, not killing them.
“It all appears to be coming down to finances”, Becki says. “There is more and more encroachment into our lives by the government. Why do the public and MPs think it is ok to tell me I can kill myself?”
“It is your faith and belief that will keep you alive”, she says.
Judges will not protect life
Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, said: “Becki’s story is powerful, and we should all take heed of its warning. It is incredible what she has gone on to do after a serious injury. Life is the most precious gift we have, and Becki’s story shows that we must never write it off or give up on it.
“Be in no doubt, this Bill is euthanasia by the backdoor and it is riddled with dangers and multiple safeguarding risks.
“A caring and compassionate society does not assist people to commit suicide. The proposals, however, read like something beyond a dystopian nightmare.
“It’s a crucial time for all of us to value life and to make a difference – by engaging our MPs, calling our churches and communities to act and, of course, praying.
“We urge MPs to vote against these measures. They must not be hoodwinked by the ‘reassurance’ that Judges will have the final say on an individuals’ wish to die. Experience in high-profile end-of-life legal cases have shown us on multiple occasions that judges, even under intense public and media scrutiny, rule and order that it is in the ‘best interests’ for someone to die.
“In the case of Sudiksha Thirumalesh, for example, a judge ruled that a 19-year-old, backed by her family, was ‘delusional’ for wanting to ‘die trying to live’ and said it was in her ‘best interests’ to die. Such a story and scenario will become normal under these proposals – they must be stopped in their tracks now.”
