“Suicide is wrong. This (Assisted Suicide) Bill is wrong.” – Theresa May

As Westminster prepares to debate assisted suicide once again, powerful interventions made by Lord Polak and former Prime Minister Theresa Mayduring last year’s debate have resurfaced, and with good reason.

Pic: Reuters Creator: Hannah McKay

Their arguments raised clear and important questions about assisted suicide which its supporters have struggled to answer convincingly. Those questions are particularly relevant now, with a newly introduced Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill scheduled for its Second Reading in the House of Commons on 11 September 2026.

Speaking during the previous Bill’s Second Reading in the House of Lords on 12 September 2025, Lord Polak brought a deeply personal perspective:

“I speak as someone who was given six months to live 37 years ago.”

He warned that the legislation crossed a “moral Rubicon” and questioned the security of supposed safeguards:

“The debate is not about compassion: all of us want to alleviate suffering. It is about the means by which we do so. It is about the kind of society we want to be and the message we send when the law itself offers death as a solution.”

Polak also warned of the consequences for vulnerable people if assisted suicide became accepted in law, asking what message would be sent to the elderly, disabled and chronically ill and whether some might feel an obligation “to cease being a burden”. His alternative was clear: greater investment in palliative, hospice and home care.

Former Prime Minister Theresa May, now Baroness May of Maidenhead, delivered an equally stark warning:

“This is not an assisted dying Bill but an assisted suicide Bill.”

May highlighted what she saw as a fundamental contradiction: society devotes enormous effort to preventing suicide while Parliament was considering legislation providing assistance to end life.

“As a society, we believe that suicide is wrong. The Government have a national suicide prevention strategy.”

She also raised the danger of coercion, including the subtle pressure that can arise when a sick or elderly person begins to believe they are a burden on their family. May warned of “self-imposed coercion”, where someone might feel compelled to make what they perceive as a sacrifice for those caring for them.

Her conclusion could hardly have been clearer:

“Suicide is not okay. Suicide is wrong. This Bill is wrong. It should not pass.”

Together, their interventions pose a profound question: if our message to someone contemplating suicide is that their life is worth protecting, why should illness or a doctor’s prognosis change that fundamental principle?

A truly compassionate society should accompany people through suffering, providing excellent palliative care, protection and hope, not facilitate their deaths.