Leading Charities Urge Members of Parliament to Protect People with Eating Disorders from Assisted Death

Today, we have joined leading charities, clinicians, and advocates in writing to Members of Parliament (MPs) in the UK to express serious concerns about the risk assisted dying could pose to people with eating disorders.

It is not uncommon for someone in the depths of an eating disorder to say they want to die and refuse life-saving treatment. Many feel hopeless, helpless, isolated, and like a burden to their families. Some have experienced trauma in treatment and struggle to trust services. These are not reasons to offer assisted death — they are signs of a person in need of support and a system failing to provide the care they need and deserve.

Eating disorders are treatable. They are life-threatening when left untreated or poorly treated, but this risk is preventable, and deaths from eating disorders are not inevitable. As campaigners, clinicians, charities, and organisations working with those affected, we urge the committee to take these concerns seriously and ensure that any changes to the law do not put people with eating disorders at risk of premature death under the guise of assisted dying.

We are calling on MPs to amend the bill to ensure that eating disorders and other treatable conditions cannot be classified as terminal illnesses. The government has a duty to protect people who may be vulnerable due to a mental health condition and ensure they receive treatment, not assisted suicide.