Date confirmed for first Commons debate on assisted dying for a decade
Aine FoxThu 10 October 2024
Scottish Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater and Conservative MP Kit Malthouse join terminally ill advocates, bereaved families, and campaigners outside the Houses of Parliament (Ben Whitley/PA)
Assisted dying will be debated and voted on in the House of Commons next month, for the first time for almost a decade.
MPs will be able to make their opinions known in the Commons on the controversial subject when they debate the bill on choice at the end of life for people with terminal illness on November 29.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s private member’s bill (PMB) is due to be formally introduced in Parliament on Wednesday.
Details of the legislation will be published ahead of the first full debate and vote next month, the MP’s office said.
The news comes a day after Ms Leadbeater and campaigners gathered outside the Houses of Parliament before meeting MPs to discuss the proposed bill.
Speaking to the PA news agency, the MP for Spen Valley said she wanted to meet families with experience of what she described as a “really, really important issue”, to ensure their voices are heard.
She said: “What they show through their stories is that the current law is not fit for purpose.
“We’ve got a duty as legislators to make robust laws that are fit for society, and at the moment this situation just isn’t.”
She has called for a “thorough, compassionate and respectful debate about what needs to be done”.
Opponents to changing the law have argued some people could feel pressured to have an assisted death against their will, and have called for more focus on improving and ensuring equal access to palliative care.
But while details of the bill have not yet been set out, Ms Leadbeater has rejected this argument and has pledged to consult widely about what should be in the legislation.
Dame Esther Rantzen has spoken in favour of legalising assisted dying (Esther Rantzen/PA)
She has previously insisted it “will not undermine calls for improvements to palliative care, nor will it conflict with the rights of people with disabilities to be treated equally and have the respect and support they are absolutely right to campaign for in order to live fulfilling lives”.
High-profile supporters of change include Dame Esther Rantzen, who is terminally ill with cancer and has spoken out strongly on the issue since revealing in December that she has joined the Swiss Dignitas clinic.
Assisting someone to end their life is against the law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and while it is not a specific criminal offence in Scotland, assisting the death of someone can leave a person open to being charged with murder or other offences.
A bill is currently being considered at Holyrood that, if passed, would give terminally ill adults in Scotland the right to request help to end their life.
Ms Leadbeater’s bill would cover England and Wales only.
MPs still need to approve the motion outlining the Friday sitting dates – the first of which is November 29 – but this is expected to be a formality.
Former Labour justice secretary Lord Falconer of Thoroton, whose Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill had been due to be debated in the House of Lords in mid-November, has confirmed he will no longer go ahead with it in light of Ms Leadbeater’s bill.
An assisted dying bill was defeated in the Commons in 2015 and a separate one was blocked in the Lords in 2021.
Carlisle MP 'welcomes' controversial Commons debate on assisted dying
Isaac Cooper
Thu 10 October 2024
Carlisle MP Julie Minns (Image: Facebook)
Carlisle MP Julie Minns has said she ‘welcomes’ an upcoming debate on assisted dying in the House of Commons.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater will formally introduce a private member’s bill (PMB) on assisted dying on October 16, with a debate and initial vote on the matter possible within weeks.
It will be the first time the topic has been debated in the House of Commons since 2015, when an assisted dying bill was defeated.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has previously promised Labour MPs that they can vote with their conscience on the issue.
Opponents to changing the law have argued some people could feel pressured to have an assisted death against their will, and have called for more focus on improving and ensuring equal access to palliative care.
Campaigners who are terminally ill or have watched loved ones die in pain have called the existing legislation “unbelievably cruel” and pointed out that animals suffering severely can be legally euthanised.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, former Conservative leadership contender Sir David Davis said the Prime Minister needs to make sure the legislation is “right first time”, with Sir Keir Starmer responding that any legal changes in the area need to be “effective”.
Carlisle MP Julie Minns said that she ‘cannot’ say how she will vote until the bill is published but said that she would ‘closely’ scrutinise the bill to ‘ensure it has robust safeguards’.
“The debate on assisted dying is a complex and emotive issue and I recognise that there are strongly held ethical and moral views on both sides,” she said.
“The high level of public interest in this issue is borne out by the amount of constituent correspondence I have received, and I welcome the debate.
“The Bill has not yet been published, and until I see its provisions I cannot say how I will vote.
“However, I will be scrutinising the Bill closely to ensure it has robust safeguards to protect those who would not choose an assisted death.
“I believe that assisted dying should never become an alternative to high-quality palliative and end-of-life care.
“People deserve dignity in dying, and each person nearing the end of their life should feel reassured and safe in the knowledge they will receive the very best care.”
Isaac Cooper
Thu 10 October 2024
Carlisle MP Julie Minns (Image: Facebook)
Carlisle MP Julie Minns has said she ‘welcomes’ an upcoming debate on assisted dying in the House of Commons.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater will formally introduce a private member’s bill (PMB) on assisted dying on October 16, with a debate and initial vote on the matter possible within weeks.
It will be the first time the topic has been debated in the House of Commons since 2015, when an assisted dying bill was defeated.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has previously promised Labour MPs that they can vote with their conscience on the issue.
Opponents to changing the law have argued some people could feel pressured to have an assisted death against their will, and have called for more focus on improving and ensuring equal access to palliative care.
Campaigners who are terminally ill or have watched loved ones die in pain have called the existing legislation “unbelievably cruel” and pointed out that animals suffering severely can be legally euthanised.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, former Conservative leadership contender Sir David Davis said the Prime Minister needs to make sure the legislation is “right first time”, with Sir Keir Starmer responding that any legal changes in the area need to be “effective”.
Carlisle MP Julie Minns said that she ‘cannot’ say how she will vote until the bill is published but said that she would ‘closely’ scrutinise the bill to ‘ensure it has robust safeguards’.
“The debate on assisted dying is a complex and emotive issue and I recognise that there are strongly held ethical and moral views on both sides,” she said.
“The high level of public interest in this issue is borne out by the amount of constituent correspondence I have received, and I welcome the debate.
“The Bill has not yet been published, and until I see its provisions I cannot say how I will vote.
“However, I will be scrutinising the Bill closely to ensure it has robust safeguards to protect those who would not choose an assisted death.
“I believe that assisted dying should never become an alternative to high-quality palliative and end-of-life care.
“People deserve dignity in dying, and each person nearing the end of their life should feel reassured and safe in the knowledge they will receive the very best care.”
Terminally ill patients with a year to live could use assisted dying law under plans considered by MP
Janet Eastham
Fri 11 October 2024
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater will table a private members’ Bill to legalise the practice next Wednesday, with a free vote for MPs due on Nov 29 - BEN WHITLEY/PA
Terminally ill patients with 12 months to live may be able to use an assisted dying law under plans being considered by the MP writing the Bill.
Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP for Spen Valley, will table a private members’ Bill to legalise the practice next Wednesday, with a free vote for MPs due on Nov 29, their first since 2015.
The legislation is expected to include a definition of terminal illness that will specify the timeframe within which someone is reasonably expected to die, with prognoses of between six and 12 months being considered.
The Telegraph understands Ms Leadbeater is expected to rule out assisted dying for people who are suffering intolerably but not terminally ill.
She is also consulting with the judiciary on whether every application for assisted dying can be signed off by a High Court judge.
It is understood that Ms Leadbeater will only include this requirement if she is confident that the Family Court would be able to handle the additional work. The current feedback from judges is that the extra caseload would not be too burdensome.
It is understood that the legislation will require two doctors to approve each application.
The Bill is understood to include a conscientious objection clause for doctors who have ethical or religious objections to assisted dying which would exempt them from being involved in such cases.
Ms Leadbeater is believed to be consulting with the doctors’ union, the British Medical Association (BMA) on the issue.
The Bill will only be applicable to those deemed mentally competent at the point they decide to opt for assisted suicide
The Telegraph understands that the legislation is likely to include a requirement for a Mental Capacity Assessment if capacity is in doubt.
However, critics of assisted dying said that such a provision is not a fail-safe as capacity can “fluctuate” and doctors are not always well-trained in assessing a patient’s ability to consent.
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, a crossbench peer and professor of palliative medicine, said: “You can have capacity for decisions in daily living, but the bigger the decision, the greater the capacity that you need to have.
“Doctors are very, very poor at assessing mental capacity, and you can’t do it on a one-off assessment. Doctors are meant to be trained in assessing capacity, but really it was not done well generally. Medication that people are on, and fears that people might have, both alter their mental state and decision making.”
Ms Leadbeater is consulting widely with the medical profession, legal profession, and campaign groups in favour of the policy such as Dignity in Dying.
This process is ongoing, and the exact wording of the legislation will only be made public next Wednesday [OCT 13], when the bill will have its First Reading in Parliament.
When Ms Leadbeater announced her Choice at the End of Life Bill last Thursday [Oct 3], she said it would cater for terminally ill, mentally competent adults.
While she was lobbied by as many as 38 Labour MPs to expand this to include non-terminal patients, she is not expected to cave and expand the criteria.
Sarah Wootton, chief executive at Dignity in Dying, told The Telegraph that the law change they were advocating for was for “shortening death, rather than ending life”.
Ms Wootton said that terminally ill supporters of the bill wanted it “more as an insurance policy against a bad death”.
MPs will be able to make their opinions known in the Commons on the controversial subject when they debate and vote on the Bill on Nov 29.
WALES
Almost two-thirds support legalising assisted dying in next five years
Aine Fox & PA Social Affairs Correspondent & Sion Morgan
Fri 11 October 2024
-Credit: (Image: No credit)
Almost two-thirds of people in England and Wales want assisted dying to be legalised for terminally ill adults in the next five years, polling has suggested.
The research comes as a Bill to give choice at the end of life is set to come before Parliament next week for the first time in almost a decade.
The new study, by the Policy Institute and the Complex Life and Death Decisions group at King's College London (KCL), also suggested younger people are less likely to back assisted dying.
It demonstrated the changeable nature of some people's views, with some of those voicing support saying they could change their minds if they felt someone had been pressured into choosing an assisted death or had made the choice due to lack of access to care.
Overall, the polling found a fifth (20%) of people asked said they do not want assisted dying to be legalised in the next five years while 63% said they do.
Just under a fifth (17%) of the 2,063 adults in England and Wales polled across two days in September said they do not take a side or have an opinion on the issue.
The majority (85%) of those who support a law change said people having a less painful or distressing death is a very important reason for their view, while a similar proportion (83%) say giving people more dignity at the end of their life is very important.
Almost three-quarters (72%) of supporters said legalisation is about people being able to choose how and when they die.
But the majority (72%) of those opposed to change said they fear vulnerable people could be pressured into an assisted death, while more than two-thirds (69%) feel health professionals should be saving lives, not assisting deaths.
Researchers said the polling shows the "moral complexities" people feel when it comes to this controversial issue, with concerns around the risks remaining among those who are broadly supportive of legalisation.
Overall, 61% of people polled said they would be concerned about some people being pressured to have an assisted death if the law was changed, including more than half (53%) of those who want the current Parliament to legalise it.
More than half (55%) of those who support a law change said they would be likely to change their mind and become opposed if it turned out someone had been pressured into choosing this option.
Concerns around access to good end-of-life care was also a factor, the research showed.
Just under half (48%) of supporters of a law change said they are likely to rethink their position if someone's choice of an assisted death was motivated by a lack of access to other care.
A majority (83%) of those in favour of change said poor palliative care was an important factor in their support, including 47% who rate it as very important.
While 68% of those aged 35 and above said they supported legalisation within this Parliament, only 50% of 18 to 34-year-olds said they would support this.
The researchers suggested this could be due to the "greater salience of this issue for those at a more advanced stage of life, as well as their (an older person's) higher likelihood of having experienced the death of loved ones".
While two-thirds (66%) of white people said they would support a law change in the next five years, this fell to 46% among ethnic minorities.
Those with mental health conditions are deemed most at risk of being pressured to have an assisted death, according to the study, with 43% of the public saying this would be the case.
Other groups felt to be most at risk were older people (34%), those with disabilities (33%), people with chronic pain or long-term health conditions (33%) and those with a cognitive impairment (30%).
Some 59% of people said they feel assisted dying should be available on the NHS while 18% did not.
The researchers said there was no clear consensus on the possible financial impact to the health service of legalising assisted dying, with 25% of people thinking costs would stay about the same, and 18% saying they do not know.
Almost a third (32%) of people said they think overall costs to the health service would decrease if assisted dying was provided by the NHS.
Just over a third (35%) of the public said they would be more likely to support legalising assisted dying if it did reduce overall costs to the NHS, compared with 23% who would be less likely to do so.
The proportion of people who feel someone should not have to pay for their assisted death was almost double that of those who think patients should have to pay, at 44% compared with 23%.
Most people (55%) said they would support private healthcare companies also providing assisted deaths, compared with 24% who would not.
Just over a third (37%) of people said they would be against private companies getting public money for these services from the Government's healthcare budget compared with 28% in favour.
The Government has already confirmed that MPs will have a free vote on the Bill, making a decision according to their own conscience rather than along party lines.
The research found that just under half (45%) of those in favour of change said they want their MP to vote for the law, with 29% saying they would rather their MP followed their own conscience when it comes to a vote.
Professor Gareth Owen, of KCL, said: "Two-thirds of the public look ready for a change in the law but preferences may be unstable in light of moral complexities and imperfect access to care."
Professor Bobby Duffy, also from KCL, said the research shows that "while minorities of the public have very strong views in support or opposition, the majority are somewhat in the middle, either not having any opinion or only tending to support or oppose views could shift quickly".
KCL colleague Professor Katherine Sleeman said it is "critical that the debate on assisted dying considers the complexities involved in implementing this kind of reform", including "the implications of legalising assisted dying in a context where many dying people struggle to access the care they need".
Research was carried out on September 18 and 19 2024, by the Policy Institute and the Complex Life and Death Decisions (Cladd) group at King's College London, in collaboration with Focaldata.
Almost two-thirds support legalising assisted dying in next five years
Aine Fox & PA Social Affairs Correspondent & Sion Morgan
Fri 11 October 2024
-Credit: (Image: No credit)
Almost two-thirds of people in England and Wales want assisted dying to be legalised for terminally ill adults in the next five years, polling has suggested.
The research comes as a Bill to give choice at the end of life is set to come before Parliament next week for the first time in almost a decade.
The new study, by the Policy Institute and the Complex Life and Death Decisions group at King's College London (KCL), also suggested younger people are less likely to back assisted dying.
It demonstrated the changeable nature of some people's views, with some of those voicing support saying they could change their minds if they felt someone had been pressured into choosing an assisted death or had made the choice due to lack of access to care.
Overall, the polling found a fifth (20%) of people asked said they do not want assisted dying to be legalised in the next five years while 63% said they do.
Just under a fifth (17%) of the 2,063 adults in England and Wales polled across two days in September said they do not take a side or have an opinion on the issue.
The majority (85%) of those who support a law change said people having a less painful or distressing death is a very important reason for their view, while a similar proportion (83%) say giving people more dignity at the end of their life is very important.
Almost three-quarters (72%) of supporters said legalisation is about people being able to choose how and when they die.
But the majority (72%) of those opposed to change said they fear vulnerable people could be pressured into an assisted death, while more than two-thirds (69%) feel health professionals should be saving lives, not assisting deaths.
Researchers said the polling shows the "moral complexities" people feel when it comes to this controversial issue, with concerns around the risks remaining among those who are broadly supportive of legalisation.
Overall, 61% of people polled said they would be concerned about some people being pressured to have an assisted death if the law was changed, including more than half (53%) of those who want the current Parliament to legalise it.
More than half (55%) of those who support a law change said they would be likely to change their mind and become opposed if it turned out someone had been pressured into choosing this option.
Concerns around access to good end-of-life care was also a factor, the research showed.
Just under half (48%) of supporters of a law change said they are likely to rethink their position if someone's choice of an assisted death was motivated by a lack of access to other care.
A majority (83%) of those in favour of change said poor palliative care was an important factor in their support, including 47% who rate it as very important.
While 68% of those aged 35 and above said they supported legalisation within this Parliament, only 50% of 18 to 34-year-olds said they would support this.
The researchers suggested this could be due to the "greater salience of this issue for those at a more advanced stage of life, as well as their (an older person's) higher likelihood of having experienced the death of loved ones".
While two-thirds (66%) of white people said they would support a law change in the next five years, this fell to 46% among ethnic minorities.
Those with mental health conditions are deemed most at risk of being pressured to have an assisted death, according to the study, with 43% of the public saying this would be the case.
Other groups felt to be most at risk were older people (34%), those with disabilities (33%), people with chronic pain or long-term health conditions (33%) and those with a cognitive impairment (30%).
Some 59% of people said they feel assisted dying should be available on the NHS while 18% did not.
The researchers said there was no clear consensus on the possible financial impact to the health service of legalising assisted dying, with 25% of people thinking costs would stay about the same, and 18% saying they do not know.
Almost a third (32%) of people said they think overall costs to the health service would decrease if assisted dying was provided by the NHS.
Just over a third (35%) of the public said they would be more likely to support legalising assisted dying if it did reduce overall costs to the NHS, compared with 23% who would be less likely to do so.
The proportion of people who feel someone should not have to pay for their assisted death was almost double that of those who think patients should have to pay, at 44% compared with 23%.
Most people (55%) said they would support private healthcare companies also providing assisted deaths, compared with 24% who would not.
Just over a third (37%) of people said they would be against private companies getting public money for these services from the Government's healthcare budget compared with 28% in favour.
The Government has already confirmed that MPs will have a free vote on the Bill, making a decision according to their own conscience rather than along party lines.
The research found that just under half (45%) of those in favour of change said they want their MP to vote for the law, with 29% saying they would rather their MP followed their own conscience when it comes to a vote.
Professor Gareth Owen, of KCL, said: "Two-thirds of the public look ready for a change in the law but preferences may be unstable in light of moral complexities and imperfect access to care."
Professor Bobby Duffy, also from KCL, said the research shows that "while minorities of the public have very strong views in support or opposition, the majority are somewhat in the middle, either not having any opinion or only tending to support or oppose views could shift quickly".
KCL colleague Professor Katherine Sleeman said it is "critical that the debate on assisted dying considers the complexities involved in implementing this kind of reform", including "the implications of legalising assisted dying in a context where many dying people struggle to access the care they need".
Research was carried out on September 18 and 19 2024, by the Policy Institute and the Complex Life and Death Decisions (Cladd) group at King's College London, in collaboration with Focaldata.
No comments:
Post a Comment