Kim Leadbeater MBE, the Labour MP for Spen Valley, has introduced her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill to the House of Commons, which means it has had its First Reading. The Bill will ‘allow adults who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided with assistance to end their own life; and for connected purposes’. The Second Reading will be on Friday 29 November. Humanists UK has welcomed the introduction of the Bill.
The Assisted Dying Bill will apply to England and Wales only. A private member’s bill in Scotland by Liam McArthur MSP has been introduced in the Scottish Parliament. A members’ debate and vote in the Senedd (the Welsh Parliament) will also be held on Wednesday 23 October on assisted dying for the terminally ill and incurably suffering.
Commenting on the first reading Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of Humanists UK, said:
‘This really is a historic moment. There have been many assisted dying bills brought to Parliament before over the years. But now, with three-quarters of British adults in favour and a brand new Parliament that is the most progressive ever, there’s a real chance that at last, politicians will do what the public has wanted them to do for many years now and deliver this compassionate reform so that people at the end of their lives can die with dignity at a time of their choosing.’
‘At Humanists UK, we’re committed to supporting this vital legislation. We will draw on decades of policy, research, and international experience to ensure Parliamentarians can address the key questions around eligibility, process, and safeguards.’
Bill scope
Some of the most courageous and determined campaigners we have ever met and worked with at Humanists UK have been incurably suffering people and their families, with conditions from multiple sclerosis, to Huntington’s, to locked-in syndrome, fighting for the right to assistance to die with dignity at a time of their choosing.
It is our longstanding policy of many decades that they should have that right and we’ve been proud to work with so many of them for many years, including in the last few weeks as they have attempted to secure a Bill that would offer them the dignity they deserve.
However, the Bill is now set in stone as one in which eligibility for assisted dying will be restricted to the terminally ill. No further debate on the merits of such an approach can change that.
This is still a historic Bill which would give thousands of suffering people the choice and dignity they desire and deserve and we are committed to working for its success.
Parliamentarians will have in front of them vital questions about eligibility, process, and safeguards, that it will be the duty of all of society to help them address. Drawing on our own decades of policy and research in this field, and on the best of the international experience of the 31 legal jurisdictions in the world that are ahead of us, we at Humanists UK look forward to supporting Kim and all legislators with this once-in-a-generation legislation.
Notes
For further comment or information, media should contact Nathan Stilwell at nathan@humanists.uk or phone 07456200033.
If you have been affected by the current assisted dying legislation, and want to use your story to support a change in the law, please email campaigns@humanists.uk.
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Humanists defend the right of each individual to live by their own personal values, and the freedom to make decisions about their own life so long as this does not result in harm to others. Humanists do not share the attitudes to death and dying held by some religious believers, in particular that the manner and time of death are for a deity to decide, and that interference in the course of nature is unacceptable. We firmly uphold the right to life but we recognise that this right carries with it the right of each individual to make their own judgement about whether their life should be prolonged in the face of pointless suffering.
We recognise that any assisted dying law must contain strong safeguards, but the international evidence from countries where assisted dying is legal shows that safeguards can be effective. We also believe that the choice of assisted dying should not be considered an alternative to palliative care, but should be offered together as in many other countries.
Read six reasons we need an assisted dying law.
Read more about our analysis of the assisted dying inquiry.
Read more about our campaign to legalise assisted dying in the UK.
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