MPs take first step down road to assisted dying legislation

Controversial assisted dying legislation was laid out in Parliament for the first time yesterday.

The Bill received its first reading in the Commons, paving the way for terminally ill adults to be given the right to end their lives.

But a Dutch expert warned that changing the law means ‘supply will create demand’ as the Archbishop of Canterbury raised fears about the move.

Full details of the reforms, which have been proposed by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, are not due to be set out until the end of next month.

Although the Bill is still some way from being finalised, MPs were told that it will allow terminally ill adults ‘subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided with assistance to end their own life’.

It is thought that the Bill, called the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, will apply to mentally competent adults with fewer than six months to live. However, a 12-month prognosis is also possible.

The Bill will be debated on November 29 and could then have its first vote. It will face further Commons votes before being sent to the Lords, meaning any law change would not be until next year at the earliest.

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Campaigners on both sides of the debate gathered outside Westminster yesterday, with proponents calling on MPs to say ‘yes to dignity’. However, critics highlighted countries such as Canada, where assisted dying is legal, and urged politicians to ‘kill the Bill, not the ill’.

Professor Theo Boer, a Dutch academic who has helped review euthanasia cases, warned there is evidence ‘all over the world’ that legalising assisted dying ‘sets in motion a new dynamic where supply will create demand’.

He told Times Radio: ‘I have seen the practice develop from euthanasia being an exception, to euthanasia becoming a rule.’

It followed a warning from the Archbishop of Canterbury, who said that legalising assisted dying would be a ‘slippery slope’ putting the most vulnerable at risk.

Justin Welby wrote in yesterday’s Daily Mail: ‘The right to end your life could all too easily – and accidentally – turn into a duty to do so.’

But campaign group My Death, My Decision welcomed the bill and called on MPs to extend it beyond those who are terminally ill to those who are ‘suffering intolerably’.

Trevor Moore, the group’s chairman, said: ‘People who are either terminally ill or suffering intolerably will be watching, and want their end-of-life choices debated in a civil and considerate way.’

What is the law on assisted dying now?

Assisting someone to end their life is currently a criminal offence in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. In Scotland, it is not a specific offence but assisting a death can leave someone open to being charged with murder.

What is happening at Westminster?

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was ‘committed’ to allowing a vote on legalising assisted dying if Labour won the election.

Yesterday Labour MP Kim Leadbeater formally introduced her private members’ bill to reform the law on assisted dying. A debate and first vote on the Bill are expected to take place on November 29.

Has it been voted on before?

Assisted dying has not been put to MPs for a vote in almost a decade. A bill which would have allowed some terminally ill adults to ask for medical help to end their life went before the Commons in 2015 and was rejected by MPs.

Are MPs guaranteed a vote next month?

NO. Private members’ bills are considered during Friday sittings, from 9.30am until 2.30pm. If the debate is still ongoing at 2.30pm, then it is adjourned and the bill falls to the bottom of the list, which means it is highly unlikely to make any further progress. If approved, the House then votes on whether or not to give the bill a second reading. If rejected, the House resumes the debate and the bill is unlikely to progress.

What are the public’s views?

Recent research from King’s College London suggested that almost two-thirds of the public want assisted dying to be legalised for terminally ill adults in the next five years. But even those who supported a change in the law were found to have reservations, and said they would change their minds if they felt someone had been pressured into ending their life.