MPs to debate historic assisted dying bill in parliament this month

Plans to change the law to give terminally ill people in England and Wales the right to choose to end their life will be discussed in parliament this month.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s private members bill is set to be tabled on October 16 and considered by the House of Commons.

She said she hoped the bill would provide ‘honest, compassionate and respectful debate’ in the Commons.

Conversations around assisted dying have grown louder this year, particularly with voices like Dame Esther Rantzen, calling for change and a parliamentary debate.

In response to the latest news, Dame Esther said: ‘I never thought I might live to see the current cruel law change.

‘But even if it is too late for me, I know thousands of terminally ill patients and their families will be given new hope.

‘All we ask is to be given the choice over our own lives.’

The bill would establish in law the right for terminally ill eligible adults to have choice at the end of life to shorten their deaths and ensure stronger protections for them and their loved ones in the aftermath.

She said she had ‘thought long and hard about what legislation I should introduce’ after she came top in a ballot which allows chosen MPs to debate a Bill of their choice.

Ms Leadbeater, who is the sister of murdered MP Jo Cox, said: ‘Parliament should now be able to consider a change in the law that would offer reassurance and relief – and most importantly, dignity and choice – to people in the last months of their lives.

‘I believe that with the right safeguards and protections in place, people who are already dying and are mentally competent to make a decision should be given the choice of a shorter, less painful death, on their own terms and without placing family and loved ones at risk of prosecution.

‘It will not undermine calls for improvements to palliative care.

‘Nor will it conflict with the rights of people with disabilities to be treated equally and have the respect and support they are absolutely right to campaign for in order to live fulfilling lives.

‘I support these causes just as passionately.

‘The evidence from the Health and Social Care Select Committee report earlier this year found that where legislation similar to mine has been introduced elsewhere around the world it has been accompanied by improved palliative care provision and has not impacted negatively on the lives of disabled people.’

She added there is ‘widespread agreement that the current legislation, passed over 60 years ago, is no longer fit for purpose’.

Her Bill is guaranteed time for debate in the Commons after she topped the PMB ballot, which gives her priority on a Friday sitting.

It will be the first time the topic has been debated in the House of Commons since 2015, when an assisted dying Bill was defeated.

But Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of Care Not Killing, which is opposed to a change in the law, hit out at the bill and said: ‘I would strongly urge the government to focus on fixing our broken palliative care system that sees up to one in four Brits who would benefit from this type of care being unable to access it, rather than discussing again this dangerous and ideological policy.’

Assisting someone to end their life is against the law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and while it is not a specific criminal offence in Scotland, assisting the death of someone can leave a person open to being charged with murder or other offences.

A Bill is being considered at Holyrood that, if passed, would give terminally ill adults in Scotland the right to request help to end their life.

Former Labour justice secretary Lord Falconer of Thoroton has introduced the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill in the House of Lords, which is expected to be debated in mid-November.

He said he looks forward to ‘working with Kim and colleagues across both Houses to ensure that a safe, compassionate assisted dying law is passed’.

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