A retired journalist who planned to kill himself after medical professionals misdiagnosed him with motor neuron disease is speaking out against a bill that would allow certain adults in England and Wales to receive assistance in ending their lives.
Peter Sefton-Williams, 71, issued a warning in a column published Tuesday by The Spectator about the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill brought before Parliament by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.
The bill, which has reached the committee stage, would enable terminally ill adults who may have six months or less to live to hasten their deaths.
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Sefton-Williams fears the legislation could result in others attempting to kill themselves based on a misdiagnosis like the one he received.
Sefton-Williams was diagnosed with MND in January 2024, a condition that affects the brain and nerves and gradually worsens over time. The first doctor he spoke to advised him not to make any plans beyond six months.
A specialist later confirmed the condition, saying that he knew of some people who died two months after receiving an MND diagnosis.
According to Sefton-Williams, he was “struck by fear and panic” after learning about his condition. After his initial diagnosis, he made arrangements to end his life via Dignitas, a nonprofit in Switzerland that helps people die by suicide.
The 71-year-old man also thought about killing himself by throwing himself off a cliff as he was in despair over the diagnosis.
“However, given my Catholic faith, as the moral considerations of suicide came into focus and my panic started to recede, the desire to end my life also began to fade,” Sefton-Williams wrote.
Sefton-Williams said his health did not worsen as time passed, and he underwent further nerve connection studies. It was then that he learned that he likely had Multifocal Motor Neuropathy, which is typically a mild condition and one that is considered treatable.
“The Bill currently before Parliament requires that two doctors independently assess and confirm that a patient has a ‘terminal illness’ and is ‘reasonably expected to die within six months,” Sefton-Williams wrote. “It sounds fail-safe. But in my case, I was told by two eminent specialists that I had a terminal condition and that, in the worst scenario, death could come within months.”
Sefton-Williams wrote that if he “had a fixed intention to terminate my life, I would surely have been a candidate. After my suicide, friends and family would perhaps have talked about my bravery in opting for a dignified death.”
“They would have known nothing of my misdiagnosis,” he added. “They would have not been aware that my death had been needless.”
The assisted suicide bill could lose support from the 81 members of Parliament who initially voted in favor of it in November, The Independent reported Tuesday.
Leadbeater, the parliamentarian who introduced the bill, wants a commission of psychiatrists and social workers to approve assisted suicide applications instead of a judge approving them in the high court.
Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right to Life UK, which advocates against abortion and assisted suicide, stressed that medical professionals can make mistakes.
“Like all forms of suicide, assisted suicide is tragic, and if it were to become legal, a single ‘mistake’ where the ‘wrong’ person dies would be doubly tragic since that person would likely not have ended their own life without the state’s assistance,” Robinson told The Christian Post.
Advocates like Robinson hope that the latest development related to the bill will result in more members of Parliament opposing it.
“If enough do, the bill will be defeated at third reading, preventing this dangerous law change from becoming law,” she told CP. “MPs right across the country need to know there are a large number of people in their constituencies who continue to be strongly engaged on this issue and that they want them to oppose the Leadbeater assisted suicide bill at third reading.”
English actress and disability rights campaigner Liz Carr said last year that the idea of making assisted suicide legal in the United Kingdom is “terrifying.”
The actress uses a wheelchair due to an illness she has suffered from since she was 7 years old, as the BBC reported. Carr is afraid that allowing terminally ill people to die by suicide legally will extend to those who are poor or disabled.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
