Hundreds of student doctors oppose assisted dying Bill
Hundreds of student doctors have come out against the assisted dying Bill.
More than 300 medical students from universities across the country, including Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, Edinburgh and London, have said they are against Labour MP Kim Leadbeater's Bill.
Writing to MPs ahead of the Commons vote on the Terminally Ill Adults Bill on Friday, the students said the legislation 'risks offering death in the place of care' and 'places vulnerable patients in danger'.
The Bill will allow adults in England and Wales who are terminally ill with fewer than six months left to live to seek assistance to end their lives.
The group raised concerns about the uncertainties of predicting life expectancy and how the Bill will judge someone capable of making the decision to end their life.
In a letter on Monday, the medical students said: 'We oppose a Bill that risks offering death in place of care, that widens health inequalities, that places vulnerable patients in danger, and that reshapes the ethical foundation that our profession is built upon without any clear support.
'As future doctors, we may not yet be the voice of this profession – but we will be. And we are asking to be heard.'
It comes after the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists voiced concerns over the Bill.
Around 1,000 doctors from across the NHS wrote to MPs earlier this month to warn that the Bill 'poses a real threat to both patients and the medical workforce'.
The students told MPs: 'Being asked to take a life – even under legal framework – poses a deep moral conflict for many clinicians.
'It risks long-term emotional harm, burnout, and attrition from an already overstretched workforce. Medical school does not prepare us for this burden, leaving a future generation of doctors unsupported and exposed.'
They added: 'We write not only as future doctors, but as the next generation of advocates for patient care and safety.'
The letter cited 2023 research that showed in up to four in 10 cases of terminal illness medical professionals were wrong with predicted life expectancy.
The students also raised concerns about a 'complete lack of standardisation' of proposed drugs for ending a patient's life, adding: 'This lack of guidance is alarming and not consistent with good medical practice.'
Emma Lewell-Buck, the Labour MP for South Shields who opposes the Bill, said: 'Existing doctors and those who will soon qualify are united in their opposition to this dangerous Bill.
'Not only will this Bill fundamentally change their role, it will also change the fabric of our society as a whole.'
The Bill passed a vote in the Commons last year with a majority of 55, but in recent months more than a dozen MPs are believed to have switched from supporting or abstaining on the vote to opposing it.
But Ms Leadbeater, the Labour MP for Spen Valley, has said she remains confident the Bill has sufficient support to pass through to the House of Lords.
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