All you need to know about the Assisted Dying Bill --[Reported by Umva mag]

This week will see the return of the Assisted Dying Bill to Parliament, as it is formally introduced to the House of Commons.

A debate on the bill in November will be the first time the controversial issue has been voted on in the Commons in almost a decade.

If passed, the bill, introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, would give terminally ill people in England and Wales the right to choose to end their life.

MP’s will be given a free vote on the highly contentious and emotive issue when it is put to Parliament next month- here’s everything you need to know in the meantime.

What is Assisted Dying?

This, and the language used, varies depending on who you ask.

Pro-change campaigners Dignity in Dying say that assisted dying allows a person with a terminal condition the choice to control their death if they decide their suffering is unbearable.

They argue that, along with good care, dying people who are terminally ill and mentally competent adults deserve the choice to control the timing and manner of their death.

But the campaign group Care Not Killing uses the terms ‘assisted suicide’ and ‘euthanasia’ to refer to the practice, and argues that the focus should be on ‘promoting more and better palliative care’ rather than changing the law.

The group says legalising assisted dying could ‘place pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives for fear of being a financial, emotional or care burden upon others’ and argue the disabled, elderly, sick or depressed could be especially at risk.

What is the current law?

Assisted suicide is banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

In Scotland, it is not a specific criminal offence but assisting the death of someone can leave a person open to being charged with murder or other offences.

What is happening at Westminster?

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had said he was ‘committed’ to allowing a vote on legalising assisted dying should his party win the general election, and now one of his MPs is bringing forward a bill.

Kim Leadbeater will formally introduce her assisted dying bill on Wednesday, with the first vote expected to take place on November 29 following a parliamentary debate.

If the bill – the formal title is yet to be announced– passes the first stage in the Commons, it will go to committee stage where MPs can table amendments, before facing further scrutiny and votes in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Ms Leadbeater’s bill applies only to England and Wales.

What about the rest of the UK?

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur has published a Bill which if passed, will allow people living in Scotland with a terminal illness to be given help to end their life.

It is the third attempt to make assisted dying legal in Scotland after two bills were previously voted down.

Meanwhile, any move to legalise assisted dying in Northern Ireland would have to be passed by politicians in the devolved Assembly at Stormont.

In May, Jersey’s parliament voted in favour of drawing up laws to establish an assisted dying service on the island for terminally ill people and, if the law is approved, the earliest it could come into effect would be spring 2027.

An Assisted Dying Bill in the Isle of Man passed a third reading in July, and is due to be debated further later this month, with campaigners saying if the Bill gains royal assent next year, assisted dying could be available to eligible Manx residents from 2027.

Has the issue been voted on at Westminster before?

Not for almost a decade. An Assisted Dying Bill, which would have allowed some terminally ill adults to ask for medical help to end their life, went before the Commons in 2015 and was rejected by MPs.

There was also a Bill proposed in the House of Lords during the 2021/2022 session which reached a second reading in the chamber, while a Westminster Hall debate on assisted dying took place in July 2022.

Are MPs guaranteed a vote on the bill next month?

No. Bills such as this are known as private member’s bills (PMBs) and are considered during Friday sittings. The time available to consider them is from 9.30am until 2.30pm.

If the debate is still ongoing at 2.30pm then it is adjourned and the bill falls to the bottom of the list, which means it is highly unlikely to make any further progress.

A closure motion can be moved to curtail the debate and force a vote. It may be moved at any time during proceedings.

On Friday sittings, an MP seeking to move such a motion tends to do so at around 1pm. If approved, the House then votes on whether or not to give the bill a second reading.

If rejected, the House resumes the debate and the bill is unlikely to progress.

What are the views of the public?

This varies. Research by the Policy Institute and the Complex Life and Death Decisions group at King’s College London (KCL) in September suggested almost two-thirds of people in England and Wales want assisted dying to be legalised for terminally ill adults in the next five years.

But it showed 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 said they do not want assisted dying to be legalised in the next five years, while 63% said they do.

In a Guardian op-ed earlier this month, Kim Leadbeater said: ‘I have thought long and hard about these issues which I know are hugely emotive for many people. The truth is that we have never been very comfortable discussing death in this country. But I am sure we all want the best for our relatives and those we care for as they come to the end of their lives.

‘The evidence from those places around the world that already have legislation of the kind I am proposing is that patients draw enormous comfort from simply knowing they have the right to choose how and when to end their lives, even if they eventually decide not to exercise it.’

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