Three Birmingham MPs with 'strong faith beliefs' lead city opposition on assisted dying

Three Birmingham MPs whose faith beliefs are at the heart of their lives will all be voting against the assisted dying bill - with two citing the 'sanctity of life' and their religion as their key motivations. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, a practising Muslim, has referred to the proposed measures as 'assisted suicide'.

Her fellow Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill, Edgbaston, a practising Sikh, said her faith values had been pivotal in her decision over which way to vote; while Erdington MP Paulette Hamilton, a Christian, said every life had value.

The private members' bill on the issue of assisted dying, proposed by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, will get its first hearing and vote tomorrow, Friday November 29. It is the first time the issue of 'choice at the end of life' has come before the Commons in nearly a decade.

READ MORE: Birmingham MPs have their say on assisted dying - how will they vote?

The Bill seeks to legalise assisted death under certain conditions for terminally ill adults in England and Wales. It would apply to those who are over 18, have mental capacity, and have six months left to live, with the consent of two medical professionals.

The Bill has generated strong opinions from both sides of the assisted dying movement, while even some of those in favour have voiced concerns over a lack of safeguarding. A group of MPs have also pushed an amendment forward which might stop the vote going ahead.

We asked Birmingham's ten MPs for their views and how they intended to vote, and four of eight who responded said they intended to vote against. The most prominent was Ms Mahmood.

She said: "As a Muslim, I have an unshakeable belief in the sanctity and the value of human life. I don’t think death is a service the state should be offering.” In a response to a constituent, later published online, she wrote: “Sadly, recent scandals – such as Hillsborough, infected blood and the Post Office Horizon – have reminded us the State and those acting on its behalf are not always benign.

"I have always held the view that, for this reason, the state should serve a clear role. It should protect and preserve life, not take it away. The state should never offer death as a service.

"It cannot be overstated what a profound shift in our culture assisted suicide will herald. In my view, the greatest risk of all is the pressure the elderly, vulnerable, sick or disabled may place upon themselves.

"Faced with expensive or insufficient care, some may feel they have become too great a burden to their family, friends and society at large. In doing so, they would not be choosing death because that is what they want for themselves but because they think others might want it for them.

You can read how other MPs in the area are intending to vote here.

“We must never accept the wrongful deaths of some in exchange for the desired deaths of others. That line, once crossed, will be crossed for ever."

Preet Kaur Gill, MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, said she had heard the views of residents in favour of the Bill but ultimately her faith convictions and values meant she too would vote against. She said, as a practising Sikh, her "faith is rooted in the principle of the sanctity of life, which underscores my conviction that every moment of life has inherent value, regardless of circumstance or suffering. I fully recognise and sympathise with the unimaginable pain and hardship that some people endure due to terminal illnesses, I believe that assisting in ending a life conflict with my core values".

She also raised concerns about the fate of individuals 'especially those who feel like a burden to their families or caregivers' who 'may feel subtle or overt pressure to choose the assisted dying pathways'; and of the conflicts it could pose for medical and carer professionals.

Ms Hamilton said she had dedicated years of her life as a nurse to caring for others and she 'firmly believed in the value of every life.' She said she was deeply concerned at the change in the law proposed and believed assisted dying "should not become an alternative to high-quality palliative care and end-of-life care. People deserve dignity in dying and should feel reassured and safe...in their final days."

She said she was working closely with hospice organisations to lobby for better value and to fund and support the hospice movement.

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Also voting against will be Laurence Turner, Birmingham Northfield MP, who is an advocate for the disabled and families of children and adults with special educational needs. He said his position was not motivated by religious beliefs, but he was concerned the protections for the most vulnerable could not be guaranteed.

"We must judge any system by how it treats the most vulnerable. I have some background in disability rights campaigning, and on the basis of what I have seen, and the testimony of others, I do not believe either the NHS or the court system are currently in a position to fulfil that duty of care in all cases.

"I understand and I am sympathetic to the desire for a right for a person to end their life under controlled and humane circumstances of their own choosing. But the best-designed system of checks and balances will still fail if they are underpinned by attitudes that are still outdated, and stigmatising.

"I do not mean, in any way, to denigrate the compassion and professionalism of the people who work in the health and court services – quite the opposite. But the hard fact is those attitudes are still too common. I have seen it in practice. I believe that – in individual cases – inappropriate pressure would be applied to some people to end their lives. I cannot in good conscience vote in favour after being exposed to (some of) the reality of what the treatment of disabled people within our health and court systems can look like."

He adds: "I do respect the position of those who hold a different point of view. It is a matter of individual conscience, and I cannot, personally, vote in favour."