Vote on assisted suicide looms – ‘A disaster in waiting’

Laws allowing for assisted suicide in England and Wales look increasingly likely, with Parliament expected to have a free vote on the issue within weeks. Meanwhile, the Scottish Government says the Scottish Parliament lacks power to pass assisted dying legislation in its current form.

A Private Member’s bill introduced mid-October by Labour MP Kim Leadbetter is to be debated in November. Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill introduced in the Lords in July is also due to have its second reading.

Campaign group Right to Life described assisted suicide legislation as a ‘disaster in waiting’, pointing out that no major UK disability groups or doctors’ groups support it. A survey of palliative care doctors found that 83% opposed assisted suicide laws.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting is among senior Labour politicians expressing serious concerns. He recently said: ‘Candidly, when I think about this question of being a burden, I do not think that palliative care, end-of-life care in this country is in a condition yet where we are giving people the freedom to choose, without being coerced by the lack of support available.’

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood are understood to oppose the move.

However, new research suggests the public’s mood is increasingly in favour of legalising assisted dying. Following a survey of 2,063 adults in England and Wales commissioned by the Policy Institute and the Complex Life and Death Decisions Group at King’s College London, 63% support legislating for assisted dying within the next five years.

Even so, a similar percentage (61%) – including most of those in support of legalising assisted dying – have reservations about the inherent risks of a change in law.

This latest attempt to legalise assisted dying comes just three months after Hospice UK revealed more than one in five hospices have cut services in the last year or plan to because of mounting financial pressures.

Toby Porter of Hospice UK urged the government to address the hospice crisis before introducing any changes to the laws on assisted dying. The last time MPs voted on the issue was in 2015, when it was firmly rejected.

In Scotland, MSP Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying Bill of March 2024 is, in its current form, ‘outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament’ – according to the Scottish Government. It relates to a clause on the provision of life-ending ‘approved substances,’ decisions on which are reserved to Westminster. The Bill is currently in the committee stage.

Christian organisation CARE is one of several groups providing information and resources about assisted dying – including a template letter that can be used to write to any MP. Information can be accessed via care.org.uk/cause/assisted-suicide

In an email to supporters, CARE chief executive officer Ross Hendry says: ‘With huge pressure in the media and politics, we face the worst ever threat of assisted suicide becoming law. I urge you, please, to write to politicians to share your concerns.’