Latest news with #assistedDying
The Independent
2 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
NHS health professionals fear palliative care after Harold Shipman murders
An MP has claimed that health care professionals in the NHS are cautious about administering palliative care following the Harold Shipman murders. Speaking during the assisted dying bill debate in the House of Commons on Friday (20 June), Sir Edward Leigh urged his fellow MPs to take a 'pause' and ask the Health Department on 'whether it is possible to have decent palliative care'. 'There's no doubt that in recent years, particularly since Shipman, there has been a fear amongst many health professionals in the NHS about providing that degree of hugely effective modern drugs,' he said. Shipman was an English doctor who murdered about 250 of his patients between the 1970s and 1990s, who died when he injected many of them with lethal doses of diamorphine.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Legalising assisted dying means 'people will lose their lives who do not need to', MPs are warned ahead of crunch vote TODAY
Legalising assisted dying will see vulnerable people who have no need to die losing their lives, MPs were warned today ahead do a potentially seismic vote. Opponents to a change in the law on suicide said that vulnerable people including domestic abuse victims, the disabled and anorexics could all be at risk if doctors are allowed to help them to die. Protesters swarmed around parliament today ahead of the crunch vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which seeks to allow those diagnosed with less than six months to live to be helped to die. The biggest change on the law on suicide for decades is expected to take place this afternoon, with the result on a knife edge. And MPs made impassioned pleas for and against it becoming law. They have a free vote on a 'conscience matter', with most of the parties split between the yes and no camps. Mother of the House Diane Abbott asked MPs to vote against the bill, saying: 'There is no doubt that if this Bill is passed in its current form, people will lose their lives who do not need to, and they will be amongst the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society.' And former Tory minister Sir James Cleverly answered yes camp claims that the law might not change for a decade if it is not done now, as he argued there will be 'plenty of opportunities' in future. Many critics on both sides have asked for the legislation to be postponed to allow more scrutiny and changes to it to be made. Mother of the House Diane Abbott asked MPs to vote against the bill, saying: 'people will lose their lives who do not need to. And former Tory minister Sir James Cleverly answered yes camp claims that the law might not change for a decade if it is not done now, as he argued there will be 'plenty of opportunities' in future. But opponents of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill also believe they may have the numbers to see it off the proposed decriminalisation in England and Wales. Bill sponsor Kim Leadbeater is confident her plan to allow terminally ill people with six months or less to live to be helped to end their lives will pass the Commons. She told MPs this morning: 'Not supporting the Bill today is not a neutral act, it is a vote for the status quo… and it fills me with despair to think MPs could be here in another 10 years' time hearing the same stories.' But opponents of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill also believe they may have the numbers to see it off the proposed decriminalisation in England and Wales. The legislation passed a preliminary vote last November by 55 votes. But since then more than 20 MPs who backed it have publicly changed their minds, and the Bill would fall if 28 MPs switched directly from voting yes to no on Friday. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also urged her MPs to vote against the legislation, describing it as 'a bad Bill' despite being 'previously supportive of assisted suicide'. But questions remain over what Sir Keir Starmer will do. He backed the law change in November and reiterated his support this week, but No 10 declined to say if he would vote today. Labour MP Naz Shah warned anorexia patients could still access assisted dying through a 'loophole'. The Bradford MP cautioned that the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was 'not safe'. Referring to her amendment 14 to prevent a patient meeting the requirements for an assisted death 'solely as a result of voluntarily stopping eating or drinking', which MPs backed earlier on Friday, and a further amendment 38 which was not added to the Bill, Ms Shah told the Commons: 'When people stop voluntarily eating and drinking, that is not what happens to people with anorexia. 'People with anorexia stop eating and drinking because they have a psychiatric illness. These are two categorically different issues. 'So I must make it clear, absolutely clear, even though amendment 14 has passed today, this amendment does not address concerns about anorexia or close that loophole.' In what will be seen as a blow to the Bill, four Labour MPs confirmed on the eve of the vote that they will switch sides to oppose the proposed new law. Labour's Paul Foster, Jonathan Hinder, Markus Campbell-Savours and Kanishka Narayan voiced concerns about the safety of the 'drastically weakened' legislation, citing the scrapping of the High Court Judge safeguard as a key reason. Liverpool MP Dan Carden - the leader of the Blue Labour group - also said he will vote against the Bill having previously abstained. 'I genuinely fear the legislation will take us in the wrong direction,' he told the Guardian last night. 'The values of family, social bonds, responsibilities, time and community will be diminished, with isolation, atomisation and individualism winning again.' It comes as Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster and most senior Catholic in the UK, said the Church will close Catholic hospices and care homes if MPs vote for assisted suicide. However Dame Esther Rantzen made a plea to MPs last night, urging them to pass a Bill she said could 'transform the final days of generations in the future' and replace the current 'cruel, messy criminal law'. The broadcaster, who is terminally ill with cancer and has been a prominent supporter of assisted dying, said: 'Please allow us terminally ill the dignity of choice over our own deaths.' Lisa Nandy, a frontbench supporter of the bill, today suggested that if the law is pushed through today, extra safeguards could be added in the House of Lords. In comments that could be seen as an effort to win over waverers she told Sky News: 'I hope the Bill succeeds today. If it does pass the House of Commons stages, of course it will go on to the House of Lords, where there will be more debate and there may be more changes.' MPs will get a free vote on what is known as a 'conscience matter' with ministers Wes Streeting and Shabana Mahmood expected to vote No. Shadow frontbencher Robert Jenrick also reiterated his opposition last night. Writing for the Daily Mail, he reveals how he helped look after his grandmother, Dorothy, as a teenage boy – and how she continued to bring joy to the family as she defied a terminal diagnosis for nearly a decade. The shadow justice secretary says the prospect of legalising assisted dying 'fills me with dread', adding: 'My Nana felt like she was a burden. I know how much she hated the indignity she felt at having to ask my Mum or us to help her with basic needs. 'People like her – and there are many such people – may consider an assisted death as another act of kindness to us. How wrong they would be.' Ms Leadbeater has argued terminally ill people must be given choice at the end of their lives, but opponents of her Bill have warned it fails to guarantee protections for society's most vulnerable. So close is the vote that Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood, who was isolating with Covid, was offered a private ambulance to bring her to the Commons to vote against it. However she tested negative today and plans to make her own way in. 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. Significant changes since it succeeded in the initial vote in Parliament include the replacement of a High Court safeguard with the expert panels, and a doubling of the implementation period to a maximum of four years for an assisted dying service to be in place should the Bill pass into law. Making her case for a change in the law, Ms Leadbeater said: 'We have the most robust piece of legislation in the world in front of us tomorrow, and I know that many colleagues have engaged very closely with the legislation and will make their decision based on those facts and that evidence, and that cannot be disputed. 'But we need to do something, and we need to do it quickly.' A YouGov poll of 2,003 adults in Great Britain, surveyed last month and published on Thursday, suggested public support for the Bill remains high at 73 per cent – unchanged from November. The proportion of people who feel assisted dying should be legal in principle has risen slightly, to 75 per cent from 73 per cent in November. Friday will be the first time the Bill has been debated and voted on in its entirety since last year's historic yes vote, when MPs supported the principle. However opponents claim there are not enough safeguards in the legislation as it stands to protect vulnerable people. A think tank warned hundreds of domestic abuse victims could be coerced into using assisted dying by their abusers. The Other Half warned that victims are already at a higher risk of taking their own lives and the situation could be exacerbated. It has estimated that as many as 631 abuse victims, who are also terminally ill, could opt to die every year within a decade, based on the Government's own calculations about the uptake of the ability to seek help to die. A poll carried out by the women's rights think tank found that two thirds of voters, men and women, are concerned about victims being pressured into dying by their abusers.
The Independent
4 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
Why the assisted dying bill could be voted down
Kim Leadbeater's Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is undergoing its third reading and final Commons vote, marking a historic parliamentary moment. The Bill, which previously passed its second reading with a 55-majority on principle, faces a very close vote, with predictions ranging from a narrow win to a narrow defeat. If passed, the Bill would permit the state to end lives for terminally ill individuals with six months to live, allowing doctors to offer it as an option. A significant change to the Bill removes the requirement for a judge to sign off, replacing it with an expert panel, a safeguard cited by over 100 MPs in earlier debates. Concerns persist about the potential for the legislation to expand over time, with critics pointing to other countries where similar laws have broadened beyond terminal illness to include mental health and other issues.
The Independent
7 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
Assisted dying bill: Why this momentous vote remains so uncertain
The third reading and final Commons vote on Kim Leadbeater's Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on Friday marks a truly historic moment for parliament. The stakes are so high that entrepreneur Declan Ganley has offered a private ambulance to MP Sorcha Eastwood, who is ill with Covid, to get her to the Commons to vote against the Bill. No wonder. It has been almost six decades since MPs have considered a Bill that would cause such a profound and fundamental change in the state's relationship with individuals and society's attitude to life and death. An historic vote In December Ms Leadbeater won a 55 majority on the second reading vote of her Bill, dealing with the principle rather than details, and is expected to carry a reduced majority today, although that is less certain than it was before. If she is successful then the state, for the first time, will be licensed to end people's lives if they wish it and if the circumstances allow. Doctors will be allowed to offer it as an alternative to people who have been given six months left to live. What factors will MPs be considering? The lack of certainty on the vote is partly fueled by the fact that a number of MPs who voted for the principle made it clear that they were allowing the debate to be had and would reserve judgment on the final vote. The debate in fact has moved on from one of principle - which only a minority oppose - to one of practicalities. The questions faced by MPs include: Can such a law be introduced to allow those with genuine terminal illnesses who wish to end their lives to do so without exposing the weak, poor and vulnerable to coercion to end their lives? Can the so-called tight restrictions be prevented from expanding beyond that through medical practice, judicial intervention or further legislation? Will this end up being a means for saving costs on the care centre and the NHS? Are the safeguards strong enough to ensure that the new law will not be abused? What will be the impact on hospices and end of life care? MPs changing their minds The reason that the vote has become tighter is because a growing number of MPs are concerned about the potential answers to those questions. The only issue will be whether that is enough to block the Bill. Based on votes on the amendments as well as known supporters and opponents, the predictive voting model used by opponents of assisted dying gives Ms Leadbeater a majority of up to 15, ranging to a defeat of the Bill by a majority of five. Very close. Key to the debate will not be the heartbreaking stories of people suffering in their final months, or celebrity voices like Esther Rantzen. They have already had their effect. More important will be the big change to the Bill brought by Ms Leadbeater which means a judge in court will not have to sign off, as originally laid out in the second reading vote. Instead, there will be an expert panel led by a judge or KC but not with the same legal authority. It is worth noting that the judicial safeguard was cited by more than 100 MPs in the first debate. The 'slippery slope' argument The other issue at play will be whether this Bill is a full stop to the issue or is something that will unleash a loosening up of the law over time. The lesson from the then Liberal MP David Steel's abortion legislation in 1967 will play a part in the decision-making of a number of MPs, who will be considering the so-called 'slippery slope' issue of an apparently tightly worded piece of legislation expanding its reach over time. Just this week we have seen MPs vote by a large majority to decriminalise abortion – effectively allowing it up to birth without criminal consequences from the 24 weeks (six months) already legislated for. But more important will be the experience of other countries where assisted dying has been legalised. Ms Leadbeater has been at pains that this is a specifically British Bill. However, in Canada, Oregon in the US, the Netherlands, and New South Wales in Australia the legislation has expanded beyond terminal illness to include mental health and other issues. Ms Leadbeater in fact highlighted a case of a couple who decided to end their own lives in Australia after 70 years of marriage even though terminal illness was not a factor. How the debate will unfold She will argue on Friday though that her Bill has been strengthened since November. Opponents will point out that she has rejected safeguards on eating disorders, mental health, the requirement of people actually suffering pain and many other apparently reasonable checks to the process. Attempts to restrict assisted death advertising were brushed aside. An attempt to protect hospices from offering assisted dying were dismissed. She had also opposed an amendment preventing doctors recommending assisted dying to children, the one defeat she has suffered so far. Many have consistently argued that a private members bill is not sufficient to debate something that will have such a profound effect on the country. Indeed, 52 Labour MPs asked Keir Starmer, a supporter of assisted dying, to give more time for further scrutiny, an appeal he rejected. The issue today will be whether all these questions and issues will mean there are enough MPs to have second thoughts from their vote in November to overturn a 55-majority. If the Bill is defeated then it will not come back before the next election, if Ms Leadbeater wins then it will have cleared its most important hurdle and a battle in the Lords awaits where many of the issues will be debated again.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
UK MPs to hold crunch vote on assisted dying
British lawmakers could take a major step towards legalising euthanasia on Friday when they hold a knife-edge vote on whether to allow assisted dying for terminally ill people. MPs will either progress the legislation to the House of Lords upper chamber for further scrutiny or end it entirely following several hours of impassioned debate. Protesters both for and against the contentious bill are expected to gather outside parliament as the so-called third reading -- the MPs' last chance to debate its contents -- takes place inside. "It is about real people facing the prospect of a painful and undignified death either for themselves or a loved one," the legislation's proposer, MP Kim Leadbeater, told AFP in a statement. "The injustice and inhumanity of the status quo means we cannot wait any longer to offer them the hope of a better death." The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would allow assisted suicide in England and Wales for adults with an incurable illness who have a life expectancy of fewer than six months. They would have to be able to administer themselves the life-ending substance, and any patient's wish to die would have to be signed off by two doctors and a panel of experts. A change in the law would see Britain emulate several other countries in Europe and elsewhere that allow some form of assisted dying. - Advert ban - Supporters say euthanasia would give the terminally ill greater protections and choice at the end of their lives, but critics worry that vulnerable people could be coerced into dying. The Royal College of Psychiatrists said last month that it had "serious concerns" about the safeguarding of people with mental illness and said it cannot support the bill in its current form. MPs backed the proposed legislation by 330 to 275 votes at an initial vote in parliament last November. Since then the bill has undergone several changes, including applying a ban on adverts for assisted dying and allowing all health workers to opt out of helping someone end their life. Several lawmakers in the 650-seat parliament have subsequently switched positions, and parties are not telling them how to vote, making the outcome difficult to predict. An ITV News tracker of around half the parliamentarians estimates that 153 MPs plan to vote for changing the law, with 141 against. Some 21 remain undecided with another 21 due to abstain. Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords need to approve the legislation before the end of the current parliamentary year, likely sometime in the autumn, or the bill will fail. If it passes and receives royal assent, then it would be four years before an assisted dying service is implemented. A government impact assessment published this month estimated that approximately 160 to 640 assisted deaths could take place in the first year, rising to a possible 4,500 in year 10. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to vote in favour but several of his top ministerial team, including the health and justice secretaries, have publicly opposed changing the law. Assisted suicide currently carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Separate legislation is going through the devolved Scottish parliament, while the Isle of Man at the end of March became the first British territory to pass an assisted dying bill. pdh/jkb/gv/sco
