The Assisted Dying Bill is going through the House of Lords and campaigners from both sides of the debate are trying to get their voices heard outside today
A teenager stood by her dying mum’s side outside the House of Lords this morning to plead for them not to block the Assisted Dying Bill.
Her mum, Sophie Blake, 52, from Brighton, has stage four breast cancer and explains she is facing a “horrendous” and painful death. Her 18-year-old daughter Maya Nicholls-Blake, turns to her mum as they stand opposite the House of Lords and says: “I can tell it scares you. I don’t want you to be scared. I know you would have peace of mind if this bill gets passed.”
Her mum, clearly touched by her daughter’s words, explains she was diagnosed in May 2022 with breast cancer which has now spread to her liver, lungs, lymph nodes, pelvic bone and is now growing on her skin.
“I’m very aware I could face a horrific death because I am allergic to opioids,” the former sports presenter said. “I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer back in May 2022 and it had spread. As soon as I was diagnosed my immediate fear was not dying but how I could die because I am allergic to opioids and pain management for me in the past has been pretty horrendous – and that’s nothing compared to what cancer can do to the body. It’s a pretty terrifying thought.”
Her daughter Maya Nicholls-Blake tells us: “I feel very strongly for the campaign. I think seeing how much it means to my mum and to so many families here. I’ve lost people before to similar illnesses and I don’t want to see my mum go through that. They need to listen to the people who don’t want to see their families suffer.”
Sophie, hugging her daughter, adds: “I don’t want her to be traumatised by my death. I have that hanging over me as well as dealing with cancer and all the side effects and how I could die, the fact she could be left traumatised instead of being left with lovely memories of the adventures and good times we’ve had together. “
A record number of peers are taking part in a two-day debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (end of Life) Bill for the first time, on Friday. Outside on Parliament Square, Dying in Dignity supporters, all dressed in pink T-shirts, cheer as a double decker bus hoots the horns in support.
They point out 75 per cent of the public back the bill. The bill supporters massively outnumber the opponents who’ve set up further down the road. Those who oppose the bill have raised concerns around possible coercion, a lack of adequate safeguards and not enough time for such controversial legislation to be properly scrutinised.
Louise Shackleton, 58, from North Yorkshire, who is under police investigation after going to Dignitas with her husband Antony last December, asks to speak to those opposing the bill to hear their side. She has been waiting eight months to find out if she is to be charged over her 59-year-old husband Antony’s assisted suicide in Switzerland.
One lady, who says she has survived three terminal cancers and tells Louise, God has helped heal her. She explains she is against the bill claiming: “If you are depressed they can chose to have assisted suicide.” Louise replies: “No you can’t! People who are depressed are not eligible” but tells the opposing protester, she is pleased she has survived such a ‘terrible’ experience with cancer.
Talking to the Mirror, Louise, about going to Dignitas with her husband who had MND, said: “I am facing 14 years in jail for simply getting on a plane with my husband. My husband could still be here now, it’s just barbaric that the people around us today have had to watch people die in agony and pain.
“One lady told me how her mother begged her to end her life because she was in so much pain. I’m traumatised because I had to sit with my husband who died peacefully and who wanted to end his life. I’m beside myself. I don’t know if I’m ever going to recover.
“He went to his death and the last thing he did was laugh and then he fell asleep in my arms, it was a wonderful death but he could still be here. I was robbed of the chance to be with my husband when he was cremated. I left his body and was handed back a box.”
About being prosecuted she said: “It doesn’t scare me because the worst thing in my life has already happened. My husband died prematurely. But my boys don’t understand and they are terrified because they’ve just lost their father and now they are going to lose their mother to 14 years in prison for simply pushing my husband on a plane.”
Terminally ill Elise Burns, 51, who was diagnosed in 2020 with secondary cancer of the lungs, liver and bones, tells us she is desperate for others to be given the choice of a painless death. She fears it will be too late for her though, as last week she was told the devastating news that the latest treatment was not working.
“For the past year or so I’ve been on targeted therapy which has proved very effective but I’ve found out the drugs are no longer working so I’m now in this horrible limbo waiting for the next course of treatment. I’m hoping against hope that my liver does not pack in before the next four to six weeks so I can get a new treatment.
“I have been planning on going to Switzerland but you have to become a member and I have been putting it off as I’ve been in denial. But with this news in the last week or so it’s become very very real.
“This bill is so important, it is quite literally a matter of life or death, a good death. The time is now, this is the will of the people. It has already passed through the commons with a majority and it’s urgent. It’s almost certainly too late for me.
“The median life expectancy for someone with my condition is two years and I’m a year or so into diagnosis. I hope there will be a medical miracle but I’m realistic.”
Earlier in the day Esther Rantzen, in a chat with ITV ’s Kate Garraway, said: “I’m not afraid of death but I am afraid of dying badly. I’m making arrangements because it’s the only way I can have an assisted death to go by myself to Zurich, to Dignitas.”
She then issued a heartbreaking plea as she added: “I just wish I’m allowed to say goodbye to my family and for them to see that I have a good death.”
The presenter also feels ‘sad’ at how some people may misinterpret the bill in its current form and begged the House of Lords to give people in her position the ‘choice’ to end their own life on their own terms.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, was passed by the Commons in June. It aims to give terminally ill people over the age 18 with just six months left to live the option to end their life early. It must be subject to approval by two doctors and an expert panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist. Assisted dying is currently illegal in the UK and carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.