Anorexia sufferers could access assisted dying after MPs refuse to close Bill loophole
Anorexia sufferers could access assisted dying after MPs refused to close a loophole in Kim Leadbeater's Bill, charities have warned.
Proposals that would have prevented people with the condition from being able to access assisted dying 'as a result of stopping eating or drinking' were rejected by MPs scrutinising the proposed legislation on Tuesday.
Eating disorder charities and campaigners said they were 'extremely disappointed' by the decision and warned that assisted dying laws in other countries had been used by women with eating disorders.
Ms Leadbeater's Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill seeks to enable those with six months to live to receive medical assistance to end their lives.
As the Bill enters the committee stage, the fear that the law could wrongly allow anorexia patients to qualify as a result of malnutrition has emerged as a key issue.
Naz Shah, a Labour MP, on Tuesday proposed clarifying the Bill to specify that someone who 'would not otherwise' qualify as terminally ill 'shall not be considered to meet those requirements as a result of stopping eating or drinking.'
She told the committee: 'If we wish to protect people with anorexia and other eating disorders, we must rewrite this Bill...
'I must underline, this is not a hypothetical point. It is not some clever objection that has been dreamed up without reference to the real world. It has actually happened. It has happened not once, but dozens of times in countries that have assisted dying.'
Ahead of Tuesday's session, MPs received a letter signed by 34 representatives from leading eating disorder charities, urging them to support Ms Shah's amendment. However, the proposed change was rejected by 15 votes to eight.
Chelsea Roff, a researcher and founder of Eat Breathe Thrive, a US charity, told The Telegraph: 'We are extremely disappointed that the committee has chosen not to close the loopholes in this Bill that put people with anorexia at risk.'
Ms Roff, who gave oral evidence to MPs on the committee last month, said her own research had found that at least 60 patients had accessed assisted dying because of anorexia in jurisdictions where it is already legal.
She said: 'The international evidence is clear – assisted dying laws have already been exploited to help young women with eating disorders die by assisted death in Oregon, California, and Colorado. Even when presented with that evidence, some members of the committee have chosen to ignore it.
'The Bill clearly states that a person cannot qualify as terminally ill due only to a mental disorder. But this does not stop someone with anorexia – or indeed, someone abusing alcohol – from qualifying based on the physical deterioration caused by their illness.
'MPs may think such cases would never happen here. So did lawmakers in Oregon. We are urging the MPs to act now to ensure similar tragedies don't happen here.'
Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at Beat, the UK's leading eating disorder charity, told The Telegraph they were 'very disappointed' the amendment did not pass. He added: 'Eating disorders should never be classified as terminal, and this amendment would have added much-needed clarity around the issue.'
Gemma Oaten, chief executive of the charity Support and Empathy for People with Eating Disorders, said: 'Once again, those struggling with eating disorders are being overlooked, despite our relentless efforts to bring attention to this critical issue.'
The Royal College of Psychiatrists has also called on MPs to amend the draft legislation 'to explicitly exclude physical effects of mental disorder as the basis for eligibility'.
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