Assisted dying law change set for major moment as MPs prepare for key votes
MPs will debate the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill - spearheaded by Labour's Kim Leadbeater - on Friday for the first time since November's yes vote
A historic bid to legalise assisted dying is set to reach a milestone moment as it returns to the Commons for key votes.
MPs will debate the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill - spearheaded by Labour's Kim Leadbeater - on Friday for the first time since November's yes vote. If it becomes law it would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales - with fewer than six months left to live - to apply for an assisted death.
After months of intense scrutiny, MPs will vote on key amendments on Friday before a crunch vote on the controversial issue next month. Campaigners for and against assisted dying are expected to be watching the debate from the public gallery of the House of Commons.
Among them will be Louise Shackleton, who took her husband Anthony, 59, who had motor neurone disease, to Diginitas in Switzerland to die in December. Louise, 58, from North Yorkshire, is now being investigated by the police.
On Thursday she attended a pro-assisted dying demo in Parliament Square organised by Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision, urging MPs to back the bill. They appeared alongside black suitcases with the words "Stop Exporting Compassion" in reference to their harrowing trips with loved ones to Dignitas.
READ MORE: 'My dad went to Dignitas to die and UK law robbed me of chance to say thanks to him'
In a message to MPs ahead of Friday's votes, Louise told The Mirror: "I'm aware it's a free vote of their own conscience.
"But the reason they've got that free vote of their conscience is because society put them where they are today. It would be abhorrent for them not to look at the community that they live in and look at the overwhelming majority of the British public - the last poll says 79% - of a choice of how they die.
"I understand some MPs are voting with regards to their religious beliefs. However, I may not share their beliefs, just like they might not share my beliefs. So put those beliefs aside and let the people choose how and when and where they want to die."
She added: "We as human beings need to treat humans as well as we treat animals. If I was to have kept a dog the way that I was going to be expected to keep my husband, I would have been arrested, I would be prosecuted, I would be put in prison and I would be banned from keeping an animal again. But yet my husband was expected to suffer more than any other animal."
On Thursday Keir Starmer, who voted in favour of assisted dying during the first Commons vote last year, signalled he still backed a change in the law. But he stressed the government remains neutral, with MPs given a free vote on the issue.
The PM said: "What I would say is that from my own experience in this field, I dealt with it when I was the chief prosecutor, is that I do understand there are different views, strongly held views on both sides that have to be respected." He added: "My views have been consistent throughout."
Writing for The Mirror, Ms Leadbeater also said: "When MPs enter the chamber this morning, watching from the gallery will be terminally ill people and bereaved family members who are counting on us to make our law better, safer and kinder – not just for them but for all of us, whatever we might choose. We are closer than ever to achieving the change the British public have long been calling for."
But the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) said on Thursday it believes there are "concerning deficiencies" with the proposed legislation. The RCP's clinical vice president, Dr John Dean, said: "Our members and fellows who we represent have a wide range of views on assisted dying.
"While the RCP neither supports or opposes a change in the law on this matter, the Bill in its current form has concerning deficiencies." He added: "Notably, the proposed mechanisms of decision making are not in line with good clinical and professional practice. Further statutory guidance is also required to ensure effective regulation of drugs, providers, and the involvement of clinicians.
"Parliament must address these critical issues in the legislation or risk failing to protect vulnerable patients and uphold the integrity of clinical practice."
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