Labour MP Kim Leadbeater is introducing a private member’s bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. The bill is expected to allow terminally ill adults with a limited prognosis to have the option to end their life.
There would be strict eligibility criteria, including mental competence, assessment by two independent doctors and a likely requirement for drugs to be self-administered.
Leadbeater’s bill will get its second reading, involving an MPs’ vote, on 29 November. If it passes, the bill will be scrutinised by a parliamentary committee, when MPs can table amendments. It will later be voted on by the House of Lords, before returning to the Commons.
What is the current law?
At the moment, assisting a suicide in England and Wales is a crime with a maximum sentence of 14 years. A similar law is in place in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is no specific crime but helping a person to die could lead to prosecution for culpable homicide.
Why is there a move now to change the law?
Momentum has been building in recent months. Dame Esther Rantzen, the television presenter and campaigner, triggered a national debate last December when she said she may travel to Switzerland for an assisted death after being told her lung cancer was terminal. Within days, leaders of the main political parties at Westminster said they would allow parliamentary time for a bill.
Campaigners for assisted dying say the UK is lagging behind many jurisdictions in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, and the time has come for the UK to enact this major social change. Parliaments in Scotland, Jersey and the Isle of Man are all considering laws allowing assisted dying.
Is the Westminster parliament expected to back the bill?
There will be a free vote on the issue, meaning MPs will not be told by party whips whether to support the bill or oppose it. The last time parliamentary opinion was tested in a vote was in 2015, when a bill was overwhelmingly rejected by 330 votes to 118.
In the past nine years, hundreds of new MPs have entered parliament, and it is thought that many support a change in the law. Keir Starmer has previously indicated support for assisted dying although he has declined to be drawn on how he will vote on Leadbeater’s bill.
There are both supporters and opponents within the cabinet. Both candidates for the Conservative party leadership have suggested they would vote against change. In the House of Lords, opinion is also divided.
What does the public think?
A survey of 10,000 people by Opinium on behalf of Dignity in Dying earlier this year found that 75% backed the legalisation of assisted dying, with 14% opposed.
A recent poll by Ipsos found that 66% said it should be legal for a doctor to assist a terminally ill person to end his or her life, against 16% who said it should not be legal. Opponents of assisted dying say such polls do not reflect people’s considered opinions once they are presented with more detailed information.
What are the main arguments in favour of assisted dying?
Advocates say people facing a death involving extreme pain and suffering should be allowed to have control over the end of their life, and be able to die with dignity, surrounded by loved ones at a time of their choosing.
Many campaigners say they have witnessed appalling suffering and loved ones begging to be released from pain. They argue assisted dying is about autonomy and shortening a process that is already under way. Assisted dying is seen by many supporters as a new frontier in progressive social change and self-determination.
What are the main arguments against?
Opponents argue that legalising assisted dying inevitably leads to a loosening of criteria, pointing out that in some jurisdictions the option has been extended to people with mental health issues or conditions that aren’t necessarily terminal – the so-called slippery slope.
Legalising assisted dying could put pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives for fear of being a financial, emotional or care burden, with disabled, elderly, sick or depressed people especially at risk. First-class palliative care should be available and properly resourced instead. The state should not be sanctioning suicide, opponents say.
What is happening elsewhere?
The Isle of Man may become the first place in the British Isles to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill residents. Jersey, which also has its own parliament, is expected to pass a similar law. Legislation on assisted dying has been proposed in the Scottish parliament.
More than 30 jurisdictions across the world have some form of assisted dying. They include 11 states in the US, some states in Australia plus Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and Switzerland.
Unusually, Switzerland allows people from other countries to have an assisted death. Dignitas, the Zurich-based organisation, told British MPs last year that it had helped 540 Britons to die. A Dignitas-assisted death costs about £10,000, and those accompanying a loved one face the risk of investigation and prosecution when they return from Switzerland.
