Legalising euthanasia would put sick and elderly at great risk

Firstly, I would like to say that I share in common with everyone else the sincere hope that neither I nor my family members will have to die in pain or distress. I am under no illusion that death can be a painful and messy business, and worse, a time of despair and fear. I support every measure to provide good palliative care for individuals short of directly ending a person’s life, even if medication intended for pain control might effectively shorten a life.

The role of the carer, whether a family member or a professional, is distinct from that of medical professionals in that their primary concern is to promote quality of life. To do that, a carer must find ways of ensuring that the views and wishes, needs and preferences of the men and women they care for have been listened to and respected. This can only be done by spending significant time with the person being cared for.

What most people do not realise is exactly how vulnerable sick and disabled people are. It is the carer’s privilege to help such people live a meaningful life, especially when nearing the end of their lives. The level of influence that carers have over such vulnerable people is huge and cannot be underestimated. Such power to influence people over important choices in their lives is one of the most frightening responsibilities that I experienced as a carer. It requires that you find creative ways to communicate with people, not just verbally, but through body language, tone of voice, touch and observation over time of what gives pleasure or a sense of peace and calm. This is the professionalism of care.

If I were to put myself for a moment in the role of an unscrupulous family member/carer who wanted, for whatever reason, a vulnerable person to choose to die, this is how I would set about it.

On a daily basis, refrain from making eye contact with the vulnerable person. Keep any friendly touch to a minimum. Do not talk to the person when giving personal care, although you can show constant, mild irritation with their failure to respond fast enough to your instructions. Keep your expression blank. You would need to dress the vulnerable person adequately for the time of year and keep their room warm, because unexpected visitors would notice this and other more obvious failures in care. However, you could hold back pain-killing or other palliative medication for half an hour, possibly up to an hour, without it showing on any record sheets. Do not communicate verbally with the person more than necessary and use your observational skills to work out what robs the vulnerable person of peace and pleasure, specifically creating an environment that leads to their agitation. Be slow to respond to requests for toileting assistance and get angry if there are accidents. Leave food and drinks out of reach and fail to give proper assistance with nourishment.

The person with a serious condition approaching the end of their life wants more than anything to be loved by their family member(s) and respected and valued by those who give them care. They need to have the meaning of their life, however reduced, affirmed by others. Because of their commitment to their family, or their dependence on their carers, they will not speak out to visitors whose role is to protect them, even assuming that they are able to speak. The unscrupulous family member could frequently talk about money worries with the vulnerable person with the implication that he or she is a drain on their resources. Remember that assisted dying/euthanasia is a cheap and, at least superficially, convenient means of reducing public expenditure for health care providers and people representing those providers may not be that motivated to ensure that an individual’s rights have been protected. After all, they are not going to be able to complain after the event.

If the law was changed to allow people to request assisted suicide or direct killing, the unscrupulous carer could simply ensure that at every care review the vulnerable person was reminded that assisted suicide was an option. Family members, in particular, could add the final damning words, ‘It is entirely up to you what you want to choose, I don’t want to interfere in your choice’, thereby effectively communicating to your loved one that whether they live or die is completely immaterial to them. The above is sure to bring the vulnerable person, sooner or later, to the required level of despair and depression that is necessary for someone to choose death.

I hope that the readers of this letter find the above as sickening and chilling as I found it to write. If the law is changed in the Bailiwick of Guernsey to allow the killing of the sick and disabled – and I won’t dress it up with any euphemism – please realise that there will be no protection or safeguards in law against what I have described above and never can be. Be mindful of the number of respected and likeable people who have been found to be abusers of the young in nearly every area of national life and reflect that evil people do, in fact, exist and know well how to subtly manipulate and hide their activities. To opt for a change in the law will possibly meet the perceived needs of some people. It will leave many more very vulnerable people totally unprotected.

I would therefore ask the people of Alderney and the States members to think very carefully before going down this road. It is unlikely that we will be able to return once we have chosen this path.

HELEN ARKWRIGHT