For, against, undecided: Three GPs give their views on assisted dying

14 May 2025

Catherine Burns

Health correspondent

Vicki Loader

Health producer

More than 1,000 GPs in England have shared their views about the assisted dying bill with BBC News

BBC Composite image showing photos of three people: Dr Gurpreet Khaira, a woman with dark hair wearing a black gilet and stood in front of a row of houses; Dr Abdul Farooq, a man with a beard, dark hair and glasses; Dr Susi Caesar, a woman with dark hair, pink lipstick and a pink jumper — More than 1,000 GPs in England have shared their views about the assisted dying bill with BBC News

If you ask these three doctors about being GPs, their answers are remarkably similar.

"It can be the best job in the world," one tells me. It's "a privilege" another says. They all talk about how they love getting to know their patients and their families.

But all three have different views on assisted dying.

Right now, the law here is clear: medics cannot help patients to take their own lives. But that could change.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being debated in Parliament. And if it goes through, it will give some terminally ill patients in England and Wales the option of an assisted death.

Here, three doctors - Abdul Farooq, Susi Caesar and Gurpreet Khaira, who all have a different view on assisted dying - tell us how they feel about the proposals. The three were among more than 1,000 GPs to respond to a BBC questionnaire on assisted dying.

'A red line I would never cross'

Dr Abdul Farooq is 28 and relatively new to his career as a GP.

We meet at his home in east London. He gives his baby daughter a bottle of milk before heading around the corner to pray in his local mosque.

His religion is absolutely key to his views on assisted dying.

"I believe in the sanctity of life. As a Muslim, I believe that life is a gift from God, and that no one has the right to take that away," he says.

An info box about Dr Abdul Farooq. On the left there is information about him: it says that he is from London, is against assisted dying and has been a doctor for five years. A picture of Dr Abdul Farooq, a man with a beard, dark hair and glasses, is on the right

Dr Farooq feels taking your own life is wrong, and so, he says, it would be "sinful" for him to be involved in that process - even indirectly.

If this law ed - and a patient came to him asking for help to die - he would refer them to another doctor.

He says anything beyond that would be "a red line I would never cross".

Dr Farooq's objections are also informed by his professional experience, particularly his time working in a hospital.

He describes seeing "undignified deaths" - people ing away on busy wards - and says the health system is not getting the basics right in end-of-life care.

"There is so much we can do to make patients comfortable, if we have the right resources available," he tells me.

"We have a whole field of medicine called palliative medicine that is there to help people towards the end of their life. So why are we not throwing all our resources and money into that and actually making the process of death less scary":[]}