Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter has said her mother has ‘no idea what’s coming’ with her terminal illness.
On Friday, MPs are debating the Terminally Ill Adults (end of life) Bill – also know as the Assisted Dying Bill – after 150 changes were made to the legislation following its passing at second reading in November.
Dame Esther revealed in 2023 that she had been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.
Speaking outside Parliament where campaigners for and against the bill posed with placards, Rebecca Wilcox pleaded her 84-year-old mother’s case after the TV star, activist and Childline founder backed the bill.
Rebecca told the PA news agency: ‘I’m just hoping that the MPs today see common sense that we should have choice at the end of our lives. We should be able to have a pain-free, caring, compassionate death.
‘I only wish I could get that from my mother, and I know that the peace of mind that would come with that would be huge, because that’s what’s missing from her life at the moment, she has no idea what’s coming around the corner.
‘She has no idea how her body is going to respond to the cancer.’
If the legislation remains unchanged, and euthanasia will still illegal in the UK.
Rebecca was emotional as she spoke about her mother, briefly pausing as she wiped away tears, while insisting she’s worried Dame Esther will have a ‘traumatic death’ if the bill isn’t passed.
The Assisted Dying Bill
- The Assisted Dying Bill is officially known as the Terminally Ill Adults (end of life) Bill
- If passed, it would allow terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to receive medical assistance to die
- The approval from two doctors and an expert panel would be required
- The final and decisive votes are expected after another debate on June 13
‘I don’t want to witness that, she doesn’t want us to witness that,’ Rebecca said of seeing her mother suffering.
‘She’s terrified that our memories of her – and they are such good memories – will be destroyed by a bad death, and so she’s asking for choice for everybody.’
Rebecca said her mother ‘believes in compassion and kindness’, and ‘has campaigned for that in various forms’.
She added: ‘She’s campaigned for that for children, she’s campaigned for that for old people – now this campaign is about the end of our lives.’
More than 100 campaigners opposing the assisted dying legislation gathered outside Parliament, with demonstrators holding placards bearing the words ‘assist us in living not dying’ and ‘kill the Bill not the ill’.
Campaigners also held posters in the shape of tombstones and were addressed by speakers including one from the group Christian Concern.
During the debate this morning, Labour MP Jess Asato criticised Dame Esther for her ‘distasteful and disrespectful’ comments about those who disagree with the bill.
She said: ‘Will (Kim Leadbeater) distance herself from the correspondence from Dame Esther Rantzen, who accuses those of us who have concerns about the Bill as having undeclared religious beliefs. Many colleagues found this distasteful and disrespectful.’
Kim Leadbeater, who has introduced bill, replied: ‘I haven’t seen those comments, but it’s absolutely right that whatever our views are, whatever our views are on this issue, we must remain respectful.’
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