The Assisted Dying Bill:
On the #AssistedDyingBill:
I live with disabilities that cause suffering I cannot simply “recover” from. But I also love being alive.
Those two things are not mutually exclusive.
I am strongly pro-choice. I believe adults should have autonomy over their own bodies and, in the right circumstances, I can understand wanting the legal right to decide when enough is enough.
But autonomy means the decision has to be genuinely YOURS.
No coercion. No manipulation. No subtle suggestion that your care costs too much, that your family would be better off without you, that you're a burden, or that death is somehow more appropriate than giving you the support you need to live.
That is where my fear comes from.
As a disabled woman, I have personally experienced ignorance, cruelty and treatment from people and systems that were supposed to protect me — experiences that contributed to my PTSD. Disabled people are still abused, dehumanised, threatened and treated as though our lives have less value in 2026.
So when legislation involves helping vulnerable people die, I don't think questioning the safeguards is irrational or anti-choice. I think it is absolutely essential.
I would actually like there to be a safe, compassionate framework where somebody facing unbearable terminal suffering could ultimately make that decision for themselves.
But I will never support a system where disabled, elderly, traumatised or otherwise vulnerable people could be nudged towards death because providing proper healthcare, social care, housing, pain management or support is harder or more expensive.
That isn't choice.
Choice only means something when staying alive is properly supported too.
My fear is not that disabled people will suddenly be legally “forced” to die. My fear is much more complicated: institutional ableism, coercion, neglect, poverty and feeling like a burden can influence decisions long before anybody openly tells someone what to do.
History gives disabled people very good reasons to be vigilant about anything that starts deciding which lives are considered worth sustaining.
I support bodily autonomy.
I support dignity.
I support genuine choice.
And that means protecting somebody's right to LIVE just as fiercely as somebody's right to choose the circumstances of their death.
Some of us genuinely #suffer — and still love being alive and we have families, friends and loved ones too. ❤️
Sarah Wingfield
KawaiiDollDecora.uk
#lookoutforeachother #support #safeguarding #life #death #disability
