Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: “This Bill is perhaps the most consequential this Parliament will consider. It has the potential to fundamentally alter our relationship to death, dying and medical care and I am grateful for the acknowledgement by Peers, by inviting me to give evidence, that it will affect children in myriad ways – despite being out of its immediate scope.
“Under this Bill, people that children love will choose to end their own lives. They will need compassion and support to navigate the complexity of that grief. And it will shape the way they think about their own lives and deaths, especially those with disabilities, additional vulnerabilities or life-limiting conditions who have shared with me their worries of being treated as ‘lesser’.
“That’s why I am calling on the Government to support the proposed amendment by Baroness Berger to extend the minimum age as drafted in this Bill from 18 to 25. Not to do so fails to recognise the protection we grant children who face complexity and adversity until age 25 across all areas of their lives, rights which are enshrined in law. This is too significant a subject not to err on the side of caution.”
