Assisted suicide campaigners accused of 'hijacking' Coronation Street storyline

Scope has criticised assisted suicide campaigners by claiming they have ‘hijacked’ a Coronation Street storyline which saw a popular character deciding to commit suicide after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

The disability charity has called for the Director of Public Prosecutions to re-affirm the existing laws and guidance on assisted suicide, after campaigners supported a call to change the law and allow terminally ill people the right to an assisted suicide.

Scope says the issue of assisted suicide being campaigned about doesn’t apply to the Coronation Street storyline because terminally ill character Hayley Cropper wasn’t being assisted by her husband Roy, who was seen to play no part in her choice to die.

Richard Hawkes, chief executive of the disability charity Scope, said: "A heart-breaking and important soap storyline has been hi-jacked by the campaign to legalise assisted suicide.

"Let’s be clear – the law and the current guidance work well. None of the issues raised by Coronation Street suggest otherwise."

The storyline saw fictional character Hayley Cropper take her own life on Monday night’s episode, which was watched by over 10.6m viewers.

Coronation Street producer, Stuart Blackburn, acknowledged the sensitive nature of the story and said the issue will be explored in a balanced way throughout the continuing Coronation Street storyline.

Talking to the Daily Mail, he said: "This is a very sensitive issue and we will be exploring the effects of her decision on husband Roy who has a huge emotional and moral dilemma over her choice to die this way.

"Not everyone will feel Hayley’s decision is the right one and we fully respect this.

"For that reason we will be exploring both sides of the debate on screen."

With Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill due to be debated in the Houses of Parliament, The Sun newspaper expressed its support for a campaign to change the law to allow terminally ill people the right to an assisted suicide.

The newspaper said; "Lord Falconer’s Bill would ensure terminally-ill patients prove they are mentally capable of choosing death, that they have ‘settled’ on their decision and that they have not been influenced by others.

"These are sound safeguards.

"The risks of legalisation seem tiny to us compared with the suffering it would ease."

Scope has warned any move to relax laws surrounding assisted suicide would have a great negative impact on disabled people.

Mr Hawkes continued: "Changing the law would however be a major concern for disabled people.

"The ban on assisted suicide sends a really powerful message countering the view that if you’re disabled it’s not worth being alive, and that you’re a burden. It also stops that view turning into something much worse.

"It’s a view that is all too common.

"Why is it when someone who is not disabled wants to commit suicide we try to talk them out of it, but when a disabled person wants to commit suicide we focus on how we can make that possible?

"We have seen that even medical and social care professionals can make negative assumptions about disabled people’s quality of life.

"The current law banning assisted suicide sends a strong message and provides crucial protection to any person who feels under pressure to end their life. Disabled people would be concerned at moves to chip away at it."

Care Not Killing, a UK based alliance, has spoken out about the portrayal of suicide or assisted suicide in the media, calling for shows to ensure the upmost of care is taken to prevent vulnerable people from being influenced towards suicide.

Campaign director Dr Peter Saunders spoke on Care Not Killing’s website ahead of the episode, and warned the show could be seen as portraying a number of myths surrounding suicide.

Mr Saunders said although cancer pain can often be successfully controlled, there is an incorrect belief that cancer pain cannot be minimised and any pain relief drugs cause confusion and should be avoided.

Mr Saunders also shared Scope’s view that a myth surrounding suicide or assisted suicide is that the lives of some sick and disabled people are not worth living and so is a reasonable reason for people with these conditions to kill themselves.

This myth about assisted suicide was described by Care Not Killing as discriminating and demeaning.

In his article, Mr Saunders said: "People who are suicidal need love, support, care and professional help, not for us to accede to their requests. It is utterly illogical to offer a glass of barbiturate to someone who is terminally ill whilst offering protection and care to a person equally suicidal with a mental illness."

Scope’s chair Alice Maynard commented on the campaign to legalise assisted suicide, saying the campaign is ignoring the accepted approach of helping someone if they are experiencing suicidal feelings.

In a blog on the Scope website she said: "The campaign to legalise assisted suicide completely turns on its head the accepted approach of supporting someone if they feel suicidal. It ignores the fact that circumstances can change, pain can be managed, limited life can be discovered to be worth living.

"The campaign instead feeds on the view that some lives just aren’t worth living. It plays into negative attitudes about disability that stubbornly refuse to be consigned to history."