What is the Assisted Dying Bill debate and what will happen next?

The Lords are debating the Assisted Dying Bill since it passed through Parliament in June.

The peers have started debating the controversial proposal today, with Lord Forsyth revealing how his own father’s death made him change his mind about the law.

He described the debate as a ‘historic occasion’ as he introduced the draft bill for the stage known as second reading.

But Theresa May, one of the opponents of the proposed law, described it as a ‘licence to kill Bill.’

It comes after the House of Commons first signalled approval for the proposal in a historic vote in November.

Since then, several changes, both large and small, have been made to the bill.

However, the most important fact remains: it would give terminally ill people in England and Wales the right to choose to end their lives.

Kim Leadbeater MP, who introduced the bill in the Commons last year, said it is the only one in the world with ‘three layers of scrutiny’: sign-off by two doctors and a High Court judge, and would offer the ‘safest choice’ for mentally competent adults at the end of their lives.

She has stressed that the bill is capable of protecting against coercion, which has been a major concern for the opponents.

It passed its second reading in November with a clear majority of 330 votes to 275 – though many MPs said they could change their decision in the future depending on what amendments are introduced.

In June, MPs voted 314 to 291 in favour of the Assisted Dying proposal – a slim majority of just 23 votes.

A similar bill passed its initial stage in the Scottish Parliament in May.

What have the Lords said about Assisted Dying?

Today marks the beginning of two days of debate on the bill, giving the peers a chance to have their say.

There have been emotional arguments from both sides already as the details are being fleshed out.

Lord Falconer argued that the current law is ‘confused, causes terrible suffering and lacks compassion and safeguards.’

He said terminally ill people face the agony of ending their lives in secret or travelling abroad to the Dignitas clinic alone because a loved one accompanying them could face criminal charges for helping them.

The peer said his terminally ill father told him he was ‘to blame’ for blocking laws that would allow him to die as he wished.

He admitted to his fellow peers: ‘I have thought about that long and hard, as a Christian I have thought about that long and hard, and come to the conclusion that my father was right.’

However, the proposal continues to face fierce opposition.

Baroness May argued that the bill could be ‘used as a cover up’ for mistakes made ‘ in hospital, or for perhaps a hospital acquired illness, infection, which has led to an increased likelihood of death.’

She said her friend calls it ‘the license to kill Bill,’ and that she sees it as ‘an assisted suicide Bill.’

A Paralympian and disabled rights campaigner, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, accused the bill of blurring the line ‘between assisted dying and euthanasia,’ referring to the proposal that would allow a doctor to assist a person to ingest or self-administer the lethal substance.

Others urged those who opposed the bill to ‘look beyond’ their own ‘interests and views, and listed to public opinion on this very personal and very sensitive issue.’

What happens next with Assisted Dying?

Unusually, the Lords will debate the bill over two days – today and on September 19.

The Lords are not expected to vote on it today or next week, but the debates are a chance for 190 people to express their views.

Then later this autumn, the Lords’ voting will go ahead on any amendments, which could be a chance for the opponents to delay the process.

If the Lords are not happy about some of the details, they can make amendments.

If Leadbeater, who introduced the law, does not agree with some of them, she could try to override them in the Commons again, and then the bill would return to the Lords again for consideration.

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. The focus should be on ‘promoting more and better palliative care’ rather than changing the law.

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 has been said about Assisted Dying so far?

Dame Esther Rantzen, the Childline founder, who is terminally ill with cancer, has revealed she is making arrangements to travel to the Swiss clinic Dignitas alone.

She told Good Morning Britain she wishes her family could travel so she was ‘allowed to say goodbye’ and for them ‘to see that I have a good death.’

She pleaded with the peers ahead of the debate to ‘give us terminally ill patients the hope, the confidence,  the choice that if life gets unbearable, they can ask for help.’

Not all MPs are on board with the law. Conservative MP Rebecca Paul said she opposed the bill as it ‘will harm more people than it will help.

‘And those people who will be harmed are among the most vulnerable in our communities and I’m not willing to accept this collateral damage,’ she added.

Labour MP Jess Asato accused Dame Rantzen of being ‘distasteful and disrespectful’ for saying that those against the bill have ‘undeclared personal religious beliefs which mean no precautions would satisfy’.

How did my MP vote on assisted dying?

You can find out how your MP voted in the assisted dying debate by searching the government’s website here.

What about the rest of the UK?

If the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill passes through its remaining stages and gains royal assent, it will apply only to England and Wales.

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.

In March, the Isle of Man became the first part of the British Isles to approve the legalisation of assisted dying following a landmark vote in the capital of Douglas.

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

Last 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.

Who will qualify for the new bill?

Only terminally ill adults with less than six months to live who have a settled wish to end their lives would be eligible under the new law.

One of the other amendments introduced by Leadbeater during the committee stage increased the maximum time the government could take to implement assisted dying from two years to four years.

The private member’s bill would make it illegal for someone to persuade a person through dishonesty, coercion or pressure to declare they wanted to end their life or to induce someone to self-administer drugs to die.

Anyone found guilty of doing so would face a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

Terminally ill people who have been resident in England and Wales for at least 12 months would have to take the prescribed medication themselves.

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 lives, 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.

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 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.

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