UK's assisted dying campaigners say people deserve control

By Hannah Ellison and Ben Makori

LONDON (Reuters) - Sophie Korevaar, 40, says she is consumed by worry that she may face intolerable suffering in the future, with no power to control for how long.

She has multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease which she says could leave her bedridden with little quality of life. Changing the law to allow assisted dying in Britain, which she wants to include her disease, would bring her peace of mind, she says.

"Illness is like an erosion of self and it's a powerlessness," she said. "So to give sick people, give suffering people, some degree of control, a very important degree of control, over what happens is immensely beneficial."

British lawmakers will hold a vote in late November over whether to change the law to allow terminally ill people to choose to end their lives with medical assistance, following the introduction of a bill to parliament on Wednesday.

It is expected to be restricted to mentally competent, terminally ill adults with six months or less left to live. Diseases like MS, Parkinson's and dementia will be excluded as they are not typically classified as terminal illnesses.

Korevaar wants a new law to include those with physical, incurable conditions who face years of constant pain or suffering that they find unbearable.

"Why is my suffering not good enough?," she asked.

Campaigners for assisted dying say there's been a shift in public opinion since parliament rejected changing the law a decade ago. Currently, assisting suicide is punishable by up to 14 years in jail.

Korevaar believes it is about time Britain catches up with other western countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and some U.S. states which already give those facing terminal illness a choice.

She was diagnosed with MS two and a half years ago and is, for now, still able to work as a freelance proofreader and editor from her home in Bristol, south west England, but she can't stop worrying about what happens if the disease becomes unbearable.

Last year, 40 Britons travelled to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to end their lives. Korevaar says it is expensive and her partner would not be able to go with her, if she ever chose that route, because of the legal implications. She would also need to be well enough to travel.

She does not want to face taking her own life and "botching it", she said.

A law change is her only hope of getting the death she wants: being at home with her partner and choosing when.

"I would be able to put all those thoughts away," she said, referring to her preoccupation with Dignitas.

"I would be able to eke every moment out. I wouldn't be frightened."

Opponents of assisted dying say they are worried that terminally ill patients could feel pressure to end their lives. The British Medical Association, which represents doctors, opposed it before changing its stance to neutral in 2021.

Kim Leadbeater, the lawmaker from Britain's governing Labour Party who is introducing the assisted dying bill, said it was about choice and while she understood that some people, like Korevaar, would want the legislation to go further, that could jeopardise its chances of success when it comes to the vote.

"I am nervous about having wide criteria without really stringent parameters because I think that's when people really will worry about where the direction of travel is," she told Reuters in an interview.

"The bill needs to be tight, it needs to be robust and it needs to be just for people with terminal illness."

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has in the past supported assisted dying and has said politicians will be able to vote with their consciences on the matter, rather than along a party line.

(Reporting by Hannah Ellison and Ben Makori; Writing by Sarah Young, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)