MPs to discuss ban on assisted dying adverts as Bill returns to Parliament
A ban on advertising assisted dying is to be debated as the controversial Bill returns to Parliament.
The regulation of substances to be used by a terminally ill person to bring about their death is also due to be discussed by MPs in the Commons on Friday.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is undergoing a second day of report stage, with various amendments likely to be debated and possibly voted on.
Its third reading – where a vote is taken on the overall Bill – could take place next Friday.
The Bill passed second reading stage by a majority of 55 during a historic vote in November, which saw MPs support the principle of assisted dying.
Various reports have indicated some MPs who voted in favour last year could withdraw their support amid concerns around safeguards and how much scrutiny the proposed legislation has received, while others might switch to supporting a Bill that backers argue has been strengthened over time.
Opinion in the medical community has been divided, with the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) expressing concern, but some MPs who are doctors are among the Bill's strongest supporters.
Seven RCPsych members, including a former president and vice president, have written to MPs to distance themselves from their college's concern, instead describing the current Bill as 'workable, safe and compassionate' with a 'clear and transparent legal framework'.
Meanwhile, the Children's Commissioner for England has repeated her call for children's voices to be heard in the conversation.
Dame Rachel de Souza said: 'Children's views have at best been side-lined, at worst written off entirely simply because they would not fall within the scope of the current scope of legislation.
'They have spoken passionately about their worries that this Bill could be extended further. We need only to look to other models, such as Canada, where proposals for assisted death to be expanded to 'mature minors' – children – are a live issue, to understand the source of their concern.
'This Bill has raised the level of debate on important and challenging subjects in England – but children have raised very real concerns with me about their opportunity to shape this legislation, which could impact them as they reach adulthood, or impact them in indirect ways through the deaths of loved ones.'
Demonstrators are once again expected to gather outside Parliament to make their views known on the Bill.
Disability campaigner George Fielding, representing campaign group Not Dead Yet UK, argued the Bill 'risks state-sanctioned suicide'.
He added: 'It risks making people feel like a burden while ignoring the social, economic and systemic pressures that deny people the treatment and dignity they need to live.
'This is not choice. This is coercion, masquerading as compassion.'
But Claire Macdonald, director of My Death, My Decision, which is in favour of assisted dying, said the public mood is clear that change is needed.
She said: 'We hope MPs strike the careful balance between creating a law that is strong and safe, with a system that works for dying people, giving them choice and compassion at the end of life.
'What is clear is that no-one should be forced to suffer, and the British public wants politicians to change the law on assisted dying.'
In a letter to MPs this week, Labour's Kim Leadbeater, the parliamentarian behind the Bill, said supporters and opponents appear in agreement that 'if we are to pass this legislation it should be the best and safest Bill possible'.
She added: 'I'm confident it can and will be.'
Among the amendments to the Bill expected to be discussed on Friday are a ban on advertising an assisted dying service were the law to change, with Ms Leadbeater previously saying it 'would feel inappropriate for this to be something which was advertised'.
But Bill opponent Labour MP Paul Waugh warned of 'unspecified exceptions, which could make the ban itself worthless', adding that he had put forward a tighter amendment to 'strengthen the Bill on this issue and to better protect the vulnerable'.
Ms Leadbeater said other possible amendments include ensuring 'any approved substance used for assisted dying is subject to robust regulation and scrutiny', which she said is 'essential for clinical safety, public confidence and ethical integrity'.
Earlier this week, a group of charities wrote to MPs to express 'serious concerns' about what they described as an 'anorexia loophole', arguing people with eating disorders could end up qualifying for assisted dying because of the physical consequences of their illness.
However, an amendment preventing a person meeting the requirements for an assisted death 'solely as a result of voluntarily stopping eating or drinking' – tabled by Labour's Naz Shah – was accepted by Ms Leadbeater without a vote last month.
Ms Leadbeater said this, combined with existing safeguards in the Bill, would rule out people with anorexia falling into its scope.
As it stands, the proposed legislation would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist.
MPs are entitled to have a free vote on the Bill and any amendments, meaning they vote according to their conscience rather than along party lines.
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20 minutes ago
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Palpable anger as both sides of assisted dying debate gather in Parliament Square
Finger jabbing, the frenetic shaking of heads and the competitively loud chanting to drown out the opposition are all symptoms of rising tensions. The two sides of the assisted dying debate clashed on Parliament Square Garden as parliament worked through amendments on Kim Leadbeater's controversial bill. The sides have not shared the same space before, not intellectually, nor emotionally, nor physically. But on Friday, they stood uncomfortably close together, mostly squaring up to each other because neither side could afford to give an inch to the other. The pink-wearing supporters of the bill usually have the green lawns opposite Big Ben to themselves. The black-wearing opponents of the proposed legislation usually stand with their tombstone placards much further down towards Jewel Tower. But they decided to decamp to Parliament Square on the penultimate day ahead of the final vote next week. As the months have passed, the discourse has become increasingly bitter. There is a lot at stake for both sides, and the anger is palpable. Doctors have been publicly falling out with each other, each side accusing the other of spreading misinformation. Even some of the Royal Colleges have become embroiled in rows with sections of their membership calling out their leadership. And the emotion outside parliament was reflected inside the Commons when Liberal Democrat MP Caroline Voaden (South Devon), whose husband died of oesophageal cancer, warned MPs about the language being used. Assisted dying, she said, was not the same as "murder and killing". But those words, and stronger, were plastered across placards held by opponents of the bill outside parliament. Expect the language to become more incendiary, more accusatory in the weeks to come. In seven days, we will learn which side has won.
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North Wales Chronicle
2 hours ago
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Her separate amendment to prevent health workers from bringing up the issue with adults patients before they have raised it was voted down. The amendment on child patients was hailed as a 'first major Commons defeat' by opposition campaigners Care Not Killing which welcomed 'MPs removing the ability of doctors to raise unprompted assisted suicide with children'. A group of Labour MPs opposed to the proposed legislation called it an '11th hour rejection of the claims made about the safety of this Bill' which 'proves that confidence is slipping away from it'. They also cautioned that MPs might not have a copy of the final Bill by the time they vote 'on this life and death issue' next week, as some outstanding amendments will still be being considered on Friday morning. A ban on advertising assisted dying should the Bill pass into law has also been approved. An amendment, by fellow Labour MP Paul Waugh, to limit exceptions on that ban did not pass. He said the ban as it stands has 'unspecified exceptions, which could make the ban itself worthless', warning online harms from ads about assisted dying on TikTok 'could be a reality without the tighter safeguards in my amendment'. A number of other amendments were passed, including a provision for assisted dying deaths to not automatically be referred to a coroner and around the regulation of substances for use in assisted dying. Other issues debated included an amendment requiring the Health Secretary to publish an assessment of the availability, quality and distribution of palliative and end-of-life care one year after the Bill passing into law. Pledging her support for the amendment, which was tabled by Liberal Democrat Munira Wilson, Kim Leadbeater said MPs should not have to choose between supporting assisted dying or palliative care as it is not an 'either/or' conversation for dying people. She said palliative care and assisted dying 'can and do work side by side to give terminally-ill patients the care and choice they deserve in their final days', and urged MPs to support 'all options available to terminally ill people'. Ms Wilson's amendment is supported by Marie Curie, which said it is 'desperately needed as the end-of-life care system is in crisis, with huge gaps in services and a lack of NHS leadership on this vital part of our health and care system'. It is expected that amendment could be voted on next Friday. One MP, who became emotional as she recalled the death of her husband who she said had been 'in extreme pain' with terminal cancer, urged her colleagues to 'mind our language' after words like 'murder' were used. Liberal Democrat MP Caroline Voaden, whose husband died of oesophageal cancer, said it is 'so wrong' to use such language. She said: 'This is about helping people die in a civilised way and helping their families not go through a horrendous experience of watching a loved one die in agony.' The beginning of Friday's session saw MPs add a new opt-out clause to the Bill. The amendment, meaning no person including all health and social care professionals, can be obliged to take part in assisted dying had been debated and approved last month, but has now been formally added to the Bill. The Bill passed second reading stage by a majority of 55 during a historic vote in November which saw MPs support the principle of assisted dying. Demonstrators both for and against a change in the law once again gathered outside Parliament to make their views known on the Bill. Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying which is in favour of a change in the law, said: 'Our country is closer than ever before to the safe, compassionate, and tightly regulated assisted dying law that so many people want, from all walks of life and every part of the country.' But former MP Caroline Ansell, from Christian Action Research and Education (Care), which opposes assisted dying, urged parliamentarians to vote against the Bill. She said: 'It is irredeemably flawed in principle and in detail. Parliament should close the door to assisted suicide and focus on truly compassionate and life-affirming forms of support.' As it stands, the proposed legislation would allow terminally-ill adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist. MPs are entitled to have a free vote on the Bill and any amendments, meaning they vote according to their conscience rather than along party lines.
