MPs will vote on the Assisted Dying Bill this Friday at Westminster.
The proposed law will legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults in England and Wales.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater formally introduced the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Private Members Bill on the 16th of October.
If the bill passes in the House of Commons, it will then move to the House of Lords for further debate.
MPs will be given a free vote, meaning that the party whips will not dictate whether to support or oppose the bill.
Both politicians and the British public remain divided on the controversial issue.
Molly Pike, a media and campaigns officer at the UK charity Dignity in Dying argues, “when death is inevitable, suffering should not be. Along with good care, dying people deserve the choice to control the timing and manner of their death.”
The bill advocates for adults who have a life expectancy of six months or less to be given the right to choose to end their life.
- Conditions of the bill:
- One must be over 18 years old.
- One must be terminally ill with 6 months or less to live.
- One must be registered with an English or Welsh GP for more than 12 months.
- One must be mentally competent to make an informed decision, confirmed by two doctors and a high court judge.
- A doctor could prepare the substance, but the terminally ill person must administer it themselves.
The bill would make it illegal for anyone to pressure the patient or be dishonest about the declaration, punishable by 14 years in prison.
Joseph Crook, a campaigns officer at Dignity in Dying UK, said “the conditions of the bill introduce practical measures to assess eligibility, protect against coercion, ensure rigorous medical oversight, and robustly monitor every part of the process, with the individual in control throughout”.
Others disagree and oppose the introduction of the bill in the UK.
“It is a slippery slope- making assisted suicide legal discriminates against the most vulnerable in society and pressures them to end their lives,” said Catherine Robinson, with the Right to Life UK charity.
Robinson claims “The bill is the most serious threat to vulnerable lives since the Abortion Act was introduced in 1967”.
“It is crucial that all MPs and the Government urgently see that there is a large number of voters in each constituency who don’t want this dangerous and extreme change to our laws- changes that would put the vulnerable at risk and see the ending of many lives through assisted suicide.” Robinson adds.
According to Pike at Dignity in Dying UK, “around 300 people who are dying in the UK commit suicide each year”, and “84% of the public would support the choice of assisted dying for terminally ill patients”.
The charity states “this model for law change is based on evidence and grounded in compassion. It prevents terminally ill people from feeling forced to take matters into their own hands.”
Dignity in Dying argues that the majority of the UK agree that people should have the right to end their lives, citing , “the largest ever poll of public opinion on this topic, conducted earlier this year, found majority support in every constituency in Great Britain”.