Latest news with #dying
Straits Times
11 hours ago
- Health
- Straits Times
UK MPs debate assisted dying law ahead of key vote
Protesters for and against the assisted dying Bill demonstrated outside Parliament in London on June 13. PHOTO: EPA-EFE LONDON - British lawmakers debated whether to allow assisted dying for terminally ill people ahead of a knife-edge vote on June 20 that could see the country take a major step towards legalising euthanasia. Protesters for and against the legislation demonstrated outside Parliament , as inside MPs packed out the lower House of Commons Chamber to consider one of Britain's most emotive and significant bills in years. MPs will either approve sending the legislation to the upper House of Lords for the next step – and further scrutiny – or end it entirely during a crucial vote expected around 2.30pm in London (9.30pm Singapore time). Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who has proposed the Bill , said changing the law would 'offer a compassionate and safe choice' for terminally ill people. 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 the life-ending substance themselves, 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, including Belgium and the Netherlands. Advertisement 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. Outside in Parliament Square, protesters waved placards with slogans including 'Let us choose' and 'Don't make doctors killers'. Mr David Walker, 82, said he supported changing the law because he saw his wife of 60 years suffer for three years at the end of her life. 'That's why I'm here, because I can't help her anymore, but I can help other people who are going through the same thing, because if you have no quality of life, you have nothing,' he told AFP. 52-year-old doctor Elizabeth Burden said she feared the Bill could open 'a floodgate' of people being forced to end their lives and urged the government to focus on providing palliative care instead. 'It is a slippery slope. Once we allow this. Everything will slip down because dementia patients, all patients... are vulnerable,' she told AFP. Labour MP Kim Leadbeater argues that changing the law will 'offer a compassionate and safe choice' for terminally ill people. A YouGov poll of 2,003 adults, surveyed in May and published on June 19 , suggested the public overwhelmingly supports changing the law, with 73 per cent in favour. MPs backed the proposed legislation by 330 to 275 votes at an initial vote in Parliament in November 2024. Since then , the Bill has undergone several changes, including applying a ban on advertisements for assisted dying and allowing all health workers to opt out of helping someone end their life. MPs have also added a safeguard which would prevent a person being eligible 'solely as a result of voluntarily stopping eating or drinking', ruling out people with anorexia. 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. Undecideds An ITV News tracker of around half the parliamentarians estimates that 162 MPs plan to vote for changing the law, with 152 against. Some 22 remain undecided , with another 23 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 in June estimated that approximately 160 to 640 assisted deaths could take place in the first year, rising to a possible 4,500 in a decade. If he votes, 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. UK MPs last considered changing the law in 2015 and Ms Leadbeater warned it could be another decade before the issue returns to Parliament if MPs reject her Bill . AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Vogue
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Vogue
This Bride Dyed Her Wedding Dress Pink—And Now You Can Too
Once the honeymoon is well and truly over, the question of what to do with your wedding dress is increasingly preoccupying brides. After all, as concerns around sustainability become more commonplace, wearing an often eye-wateringly expensive gown for one day only seems wasteful in more ways than one. Given that it's the color white that traditionally screams bridal, one option is dyeing your wedding dress—a route taken by beauty marketing executive Tori Smith, who tied the knot in August 2024. 'After my wedding, I saw a bride that had [dyed her dress]—and I just thought that I'd love to do that as well,' she tells Vogue. The bride in question? Gemma Sort Chilvers, whose baby-pink gown went viral after being featured by this very magazine last year. Tori Smith in her The Own Studio dress on her wedding day. Photo: Jessica Lily Photography The bride wearing her newly dyed wedding dress, on her way to a friend's nuptials. Photo: Courtesy of Tori Smith Happily, The Own Studio—the London label behind both brides' wedding dresses—happened to reach out to Smith to ask her if she would be interested in road-testing its new dyeing service, which is launching this month in partnership with Glasgow-based natural dyer Cavan Jayne. 'That idea of re-wearability was one of the reasons we founded our label; it's something we are incredibly passionate about,' co-founders Jess Kaye and Rosie Williams explain. 'For us, the next natural step was to create an incredible in-house service that could actually make this happen for our customers, and manage everything from the dyeing to the alterations.' After agreeing to try out the service, named Own Again, Smith was sent digital color swatches to choose from, before receiving physical samples made of the same material as her dress, allowing her to 'really visualize how it would look on the fabric.' The fact that The Own Studio predominantly uses natural materials to create its wedding dresses makes the process easier. 'I have a lot of experience re-dyeing garments of all types and found the style and fabrics of Own designs are very sympathetic to taking the dye well,' Jayne explains. Cavan Jayne dyeing the dress deep pink in her Glasgow studio. Photo: Courtesy of The Own Studio The finished dress. Photo: Courtesy of The Own Studio
Powys County Times
2 days ago
- Health
- Powys County Times
Assisted dying: All you need to know ahead of the next crunch parliamentary vote
The assisted dying Bill is back in the House of Commons on Friday for a vote that could see it either fall or move on to the House of Lords. Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the Bill and what is happening. – What is in the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill? 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. This would be subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist. The terminally ill person would take an approved substance, provided by a doctor but administered only by the person themselves. – When would assisted dying be available if the Bill became law? The implementation period has been doubled to a maximum of four years from royal assent, rather than the initially suggested two years. If the Bill was to pass later this year that would mean it might not be until 2029, potentially coinciding with the end of this Government's parliament, that assisted dying was being offered. Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who is the parliamentarian behind the Bill and put forward the extended timeframe, has insisted it is 'a backstop' rather than a target, as she pledged to 'hold the Government's feet to the fire' on implementing legislation should the Bill pass. The extended implementation period was one of a number of changes made since the Bill was first introduced to the Commons back in October. – What other changes have there been? The High Court safeguard has been dropped and replaced by expert panels – a change much-criticised by opponents who said it weakened the Bill, but something Ms Leadbeater has argued strengthens it. At the end of a weeks-long committee process earlier this year to amend the Bill, Ms Leadbeater said rather than removing judges from the process, 'we are adding the expertise and experience of psychiatrists and social workers to provide extra protections in the areas of assessing mental capacity and detecting coercion while retaining judicial oversight'. Changes were also made to ensure the establishment of independent advocates to support people with learning disabilities, autism or mental health conditions and to set up a disability advisory board to advise on legal implementation and impact on disabled people. Amendments added earlier this month during report stage in the Commons will also see assisted dying adverts banned if the Bill becomes law, and a prohibition on medics being able to speak with under-18s about assisted dying. – Do we know much more about the potential impact of such a service coming in? A Government impact assessment, published earlier this month, estimated that between 164 and 647 assisted deaths could potentially take place in the first year of the service, rising to between 1,042 and 4,559 in year 10. The establishment of a Voluntary Assisted Dying Commissioner and three-member expert panels would cost an estimated average of between £10.9 million to £13.6 million per year, the document said. It had 'not been possible' to estimate the overall implementation costs at this stage of the process, it added. While noting that cutting end-of-life care costs 'is not stated as an objective of the policy', the assessment estimated that such costs could be reduced by as much as an estimated £10 million in the first year and almost £60 million after 10 years. – Do healthcare staff have to take part in assisted dying? It was already the case that doctors would not have to take part, but MPs have since voted to insert a new clause into the Bill extending that to anyone. The wording means 'no person', including social care workers and pharmacists, is obliged to take part in assisted dying and can now opt out. Amendments to the Bill were debated on care homes and hospices also being able to opt out but these were not voted on. Ms Leadbeater has previously said there is nothing in the Bill to say they have to, nor is there anything to say they do not have to, adding on the Parliament Matters podcast that this is 'the best position to be in' and that nobody should be 'dictating to hospices what they do and don't do around assisted dying'. – What will happen on Friday? The Bill is back for third reading, which is the first time MPs will vote on the overall piece of legislation since the yes vote in November. It is expected some outstanding amendments might be voted on first thing on Friday before debate on the Bill as a whole begins. MPs voted 330 to 275, majority 55, to approve the Bill at second reading in November. The relatively narrow majority means every vote will count on Friday, to secure the Bill's passage to the House of Lords for further debate and voting. An an example, the Bill would fall if 28 MPs switched directly from voting yes to no, but only if all other MPs voted exactly the same way as they did in November, including those who abstained. A vote would be expected to take place mid-afternoon. – What about assisted dying in the rest of the UK and Crown Dependencies? The Isle of Man looks likely to become the first part of the British Isles to legalise assisted dying, after its proposed legislation passed through a final vote of the parliament's upper chamber in March. In what was hailed a 'landmark moment', members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) in May voted in favour of the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, backing its general principles. It will now go forward for further scrutiny and amendments but will only become law if MSPs approve it in a final vote, which should take place later this year. Any move to legalise assisted dying in Northern Ireland would have to be passed by politicians in the devolved Assembly at Stormont. Jersey's parliament is expected to debate a draft law for an assisted dying service on the island for terminally ill people later this year. With a likely 18-month implementation period if a law is approved, the earliest it could come into effect would be summer 2027.
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Esther Rantzen's daughter makes urgent plea before major assisted dying vote
Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter has spoken out ahead of the the assisted dying Bill vote on Friday, to warn against 'scaremongering' by opponents. The result of the vote could see the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill either progress to the House of Lords or fall completely. It will be the first time the Bill has been voted on in its entirety since November's historic yes vote, when MPs supported the principle of assisted dying for England and Wales by a majority of 55. While supporters of the Bill say it is coming back to the Commons with better safeguards after more than 90 hours of parliamentary time spent on it to date, opponents claim the process has been rushed and that the Bill is now weaker than it was when first introduced last year. Rebecca Wilcox, the daughter of the terminally ill broadcaster and Childline founder Dame Esther, said England and Wales must 'catch up with the rest of the world' in changing the law. She told Sky News: 'We need to show that we are an empathetic country that appreciates choice at the end of your life.' Amid reports some MPs who voted yes to the Bill in November could vote no on Friday, she insisted a majority of the public want the legislation to pass. She said: 'We are really hopeful that we have the numbers (in the Commons). We obviously want people to keep writing to their MP, saying that they support the Bill, because we know that nationally, the numbers are with us.' Ms Wilcox described the Bill as a 'really safe, clever piece of law' and insisted its safeguards would ensure it is not extended beyond its current scope of terminally ill adults. She told Sky: 'It's a Bill for the terminally ill. It's a Bill for adults, and in every jurisdiction where they've had a similar Bill with such strict safeguards it is not extended to anybody else. It has not widened the scope of it. The slippery slope doesn't exist. 'So what we have here, what Kim Leadbeater has brought forward and has pushed through Parliament so gracefully and so carefully and empathetically, is a really safe, clever piece of law that will stop the cruel status quo that exists at the moment where nobody knows what they can do, where people are dying in agony every single day. ' Responding to warnings from opponents around those with depression or eating disorders being more vulnerable to being caught up in a new law, Ms Wilcox urged people against 'scaremongering'. She said: 'Yes, you may be depressed because you have a terminal diagnosis, but that's not to do with it. You can't just be depressed. You can't just have an eating disorder. 'And this is an example of some of the scaremongering that has been going on on the other side of the debate, and I completely understand that they are desperate to stop it, but if you are desperate to stop it, please don't exaggerate the truth. Please don't exaggerate a lie.' Speaking during a debate on amendments to the Bill last week, Labour MP Rupa Huq warned that 'in a cost-of-living crisis, assisted dying could be quite attractive', as she pledged to be a 'voice of the voiceless'. She said while she probably would have supported such a Bill in her younger years, '10 years of being an MP has exposed me to coercion, duress, the millionaire price of London property and elder abuse'. She added: 'We know that Esther Rantzen wants this. We know Jonathan Dimbleby wants this. But our role is to be the voice of the voiceless as well.' Asked about her mother – who has terminal cancer and has been outspoken in campaigning for a change in the law – Ms Wilcox said Dame Esther is 'coping' as she nears her 85th birthday this weekend. She told Sky: 'She's coping. This has been a long slog, and we're hoping that we can maybe have a rest this weekend, particularly as it is her birthday on Sunday. 'So we are so grateful and so appreciative of all the time that we have with her, particularly as she turns 85 looking rather fabulous.' 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 decide according to their conscience rather than along party lines.
Washington Post
4 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Field notes from the end of life: My thoughts on living while dying
As friends are quick to tell me, we are all living with dying. True enough. Especially because I'm 76, or, as my late husband, Alec, would say, 'too old to die young.' But it's still disturbing to get official notice of your imminent demise. Most of us will, at some point, have to navigate this journey for ourselves or with someone we love. In a series of stories, I'll be sharing my field notes as I make my way from here to there, in the hope that others might find it useful.
