Assisted Dying Bill

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has finished its first stages of legislative scrutiny, and recently passed its third reading in Parliament.

This means that it will now progress to the Lords for further scrutiny. After significant deliberation and close examination of the Bill, I voted for it at third reading. I did so because I believe that terminally ill people should be offered choice and dignity at the very end of their lives. I arrived at this view after a long career in the NHS which included treating people with terminal head and neck cancers, in the final weeks and months of their lives.

The measures in this Bill will not apply to those with disabilities or with chronic illnesses. Nor will it apply to those with mental health conditions. Assisted dying will only be available to those over the age of eighteen, with six or fewer months to live, of a sound mind who freely choose to receive medical assistance in death. While this may not be a choice I might want to make for myself, I do not wish to deprive others of a choice they might wish to make.

Any change in the law needs to include strong and proper safeguards, particularly against coercion. I am reassured that this Bill will have a much more limited scope than similar provisions in other countries where assisted dying is permitted, and includes very strict protections preventing the scope from expanding. As the Bill progressed through Parliament, amendments were made to it which I believe have strengthened its safeguards including the requirement for everyone seeking an assisted death to go before a multidisciplinary expert panel comprising a psychiatrist, legal expert and social worker.  

Assisted dying should never become an alternative to high-quality palliative and end-of-life care. People deserve dignity in dying, and every person nearing the end of their life should feel reassured in the knowledge they will receive the very best care, however they decide to spend their last weeks and months of life. I met with palliative care and hospice workers from across Bury St Edmunds & Stowmarket while I deliberated on this Bill, and I will continue to champion the provision of high-quality, compassionate palliative care. I am above all grateful to all those who wrote to me expressing their views on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. I read all your correspondence, much of which was deeply moving. Thank you for the time and care you took to contact me on this difficult and sensitive issue.