Assisted dying adverts have sparked a poster war on the London Underground.
The billboards – from the Dignity in Dying campaign group – sparked sparked outrage when they appeared at Westminster Tube station and Euston.
Suicide prevention posters from the mental health charity Samaritans were soon taped over them, although these have now been removed.
It comes days before MPs debate a bill that would legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults with six months or less to live in England and Wales.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater- who introduced the bill – claims it offers ‘three layers of scrutiny – with mentally competent adults requiring sign-off from two doctors and a High Court judge.
Dignity in Dying claims it is the ‘most detailed, robust proposal on assisted dying reform that Westminster has ever considered’, and could benefit up to 650 people each year.
But critics say it’s been rushed.
MPs have until Friday to read the 40-page bill before they vote on the legislation, which was published for the first time two weeks ago.
Ads placed where politicians are likely to see them may very well be intended to sway their minds, as well as those of the public.
‘My dying wish is my family won’t see me suffer – and I won’t have to’, one of the billboards says, referring to the claim that assisted dying allows a less painful, more dignified death.
‘When I cannot stay, let me choose how I go’, it continues.
However, its placement has proved controversial – and not just because TfL’s own advertising rules ban campaigns on ‘public controversy or sensitivity’, or because London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he would – if still an MP – vote against the bill.
On average, around 40 people die after being hit by trains on the London Underground each year, while hundreds more are saved by staff interventions.
Many of those who die have chosen to end their lives, and critics of the billboard campaign fear the assisted suicide adverts could encourage more to make that choice.
One person posted on X: ‘The trauma caused to TfL staff who witness suicide on the network, let alone loved ones of victims is enormous. This seems an extremely ill judged advert.’
Another, palliative care doctor Dr Cajetan Skowronski said: ‘Very irresponsible of TFL to be glorifying suicide here. Will Dignity in Dying advertise at Beachy Head next?’
Tony Duffy, a palliative care consultant, said: ‘This billboard is so bizarre and incongruous with suffering and anticipatory grief.
‘I thought it was some sort of dystopian parody meme. I don’t think it will have the effect intended for those undecided.’
Sharing an image of the billboards on X, architect Ike Ijeh said: ‘Thousands of children visit Westminster every day & for them & us to be confronted with the commercialised glamourisation of killing is obscene.’
A spokesperson for TfL – which banned junk food ads in 2019 – said: ‘We reviewed this advertising campaign against both our advertising policy and the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) code, and it was found to be compliant.’
Voicing his opposition to the bill, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan – who oversee Transport for London (TfL) – said: ‘I’ve got real concerns in relation to the lack of palliative care available to those who are terminally unwell. I’ve got concerns about the state of the NHS.
“I’ve got concerns about the state of social care provision.
“I am concerned not just about coercive control, I am concerned about some of the guilt those who are terminally ill may well have. For those reasons, if I had a vote, I’d be voting against.’