Hundreds of domestic violence victims could be coerced into using assisted dying to end their lives if it is legalised this week, a think tank warns today.
The Other Half warned that victims of such abuse are already at a higher risk of taking their own lives and the situation could be exacerbated if the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill becomes law on Friday.
It has estimated that as many as 631 abuse victims, who are also terminally ill, could opt to die every year within a decade, based on the Government's own calculations about the uptake of the ability to seek help to die.
A poll carried out by the women's rights think tank found that two thirds of voters, men and women, are concerned about victims being pressured into dying by their abusers.
The Other Half chief executive Fiona Mackenzie said: 'This bill is designed to kill people – and that extraordinary purpose needs extraordinary safeguards.
