A proposed law to legalise assisted dying, external for terminally ill adults in England and Wales has been formally introduced in the House of Commons. It is a private members bill, proposed by Kim Leadbetter MP.
MPs are due to debate and vote on the bill on 29 November – further debates and votes would be needed before the bill becomes law.
The bill – called the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – would make it legal for over-18s who are terminally ill to be given assistance to end their own life.
But there are tight requirements:
- They must be resident of England and Wales and be registered with a GP for at least 12 months
- They must have the mental capacity to make the choice and be deemed to have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish, free from coercion or pressure
Note. This should exclude mental illness (especially depression) and confusion (especially chronic confusion like dementia). - They must be expected to die within six months
- They must make two separate declarations, witnessed and signed, about their wish to die
- Two independent doctors must be satisfied the person is eligible – and there must be at least seven days between the doctors’ assessments
- A High Court judge must hear from at least one of the doctors and can also question the dying person, or anyone else they consider appropriate. There must be a further 14 days after the judge has made the ruling.
Under the bill, a doctor could prepare the substance, but the person themselves must take it.
This is called physician-assisted suicide. Voluntary euthanasia is different and is where a health professional administers the drugs to the patient.
And as well as the list of requirements above, the bill would make it illegal for someone to pressure, coerce or use dishonesty to get someone to make a declaration that they wish to end their life or to induce someone to self-administer an approved substance.
If someone is found guilty of either of these actions, they could face a jail sentence of up to 14 years.
All major parties have declared that it will be a free vote, i.e. MPs can decide themselves which way they vote. The last Commons vote on changing the law was in 2015 when, on a free vote, MPs voted against making assisted dying legal.
MyHSN agrees in principle with the bill, but is concerned about ‘mission creep’ – i.e. will restrictions within the bill be loosened by later governments. Remember depression is very treatable, and gets better with time. What is your view?
