Under the changes to the legislation, health professionals would not be allowed to raise assisted dying with child patients and advertising for such a service would be banned
MPs have further strengthened plans to legalise assisted dying ahead of a crunch vote expected on the legislation next week.
Under the changes backed by parliamentarians, health professionals would not be allowed to raise assisted dying with child patients and advertising for such a service would be banned. MPs debated the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill for more than four hours on Friday as various amendments to tighten the legislation were hashed out.
Conservative MP Kieran Mullan branded the Bill a “deeply consequential and highly contentious piece of legislation for our society” and argued not enough time has been allocated for debate. But health minister Stephen Kinnock said there had been more than 90 hours of parliamentary time spent so far, and more than 500 amendments had been considered at committee stage earlier this year.
READ MORE: What happens next to assisted dying law change as MPs vote on controversial issue
At the end of the impassioned debate, a majority of MPs approved a new clause, tabled by Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, to ensure medics cannot raise the topic of assisted dying with under-18s. Her separate demand to prevent health workers from bringing up the issue with adult patients before they have raised it was voted down.
The amendment on child patients by Dame Meg, who voted against the bill at its previous stage, was hailed as a “first major Commons defeat” by opposition campaigners Care Not Killing.
A bid by Labour MP Paul Waugh to ensure ads about assisted dying services on social media sites such as TikTok don’t fall through the cracks of the advertising ban was rejected.
A number of other amendments were passed, including a provision for assisted dying deaths not to be automatically referred to a coroner and around the regulation of substances for use in assisted dying.
Other issues debated included an amendment requiring the Health Secretary to publish an assessment of the availability, quality and distribution of palliative and end-of-life care one year after the Bill passed into law. It is expected the amendment could be voted on next Friday, when the debate on assisted dying will resume.
Labour’s Kim Leadbeater, the MP behind the Bill, has pledged support of the amendment and said MPs should not have to choose between supporting assisted dying or palliative care as it is not an “either/or” conversation for dying people. She said palliative care and assisted dying “can and do work side by side to give terminally-ill patients the care and choice they deserve in their final days”, and urged MPs to support “all options available to terminally ill people”.
The Bill passed second reading stage by a majority of 55 during a historic vote in November which saw MPs support the principle of assisted dying. The next major vote, to decide whether it will fall or pass through to the Lords, is expected to take place next Friday, after the final amendments are considered.
The impassioned public debate on assisted dying has seen raw emotions and passion from MPs across the House of Commons. Various media reports have indicated some MPs who voted in favour last year could withdraw their support amid concerns around safeguards and how much scrutiny the proposed legislation has received, while others might switch to supporting a Bill as they believe it has been strengthened over time.
Yesterday one MP became emotional as she recalled the death of her husband who she said had been “in extreme pain” with terminal cancer. Liberal Democrat MP Caroline Voaden, whose husband died of oesophageal cancer, urged her colleagues to “mind our language” after words like “murder” and “killing” were used.
She said: “This is about helping people die in a civilised way and helping their families not go through a horrendous experience of watching a loved one die in agony.”
Demonstrators both for and against a change in the law gathered outside Parliament to make their views known on the Bill on Friday. Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying which is in favour of a change in the law, said: “Our country is closer than ever before to the safe, compassionate, and tightly regulated assisted dying law that so many people want, from all walks of life and every part of the country.”
But former MP Caroline Ansell, from Christian Action Research and Education (Care), which opposes assisted dying, said: “[The Bill] is irredeemably flawed in principle and in detail. Parliament should close the door to assisted suicide and focus on truly compassionate and life-affirming forms of support.”
As it stands, the proposed legislation would allow terminally-ill adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist. MPs are entitled to have a free vote on the Bill and any amendments, meaning they vote according to their conscience rather than along party lines.
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