A group of Labour MPs have written to their colleagues urging them to oppose Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill.
Antonia Bance, Meg Hillier, Jess Asato, Florence Eshalomi, James Frith, and Melanie Ward wrote the letter following the conclusion of Committee Stage. The signatories said the promise the Committee would strengthen the Bill was not kept.
In its current form, Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would allow patients in England and Wales deemed to be terminally ill and with less than six months to live to receive help to kill themselves. It will now progress to Report Stage and Third Reading, where MPs will get another opportunity to vote it down.
‘Flawed and dangerous’
The MPs wrote: “We have followed the Committee Stage closely, and cannot recommend a vote in favour of this Bill in its remaining stages. Our view is that the Bill is irredeemably flawed and not fit to become law.”
The very foundations of our NHS at risk through reckless and loose language in the Bill.
They went on to explain how “vital safeguards” have been removed, and “significant new risks have also emerged”.
They stated that the Bill puts the “very foundations of our NHS at risk through reckless and loose language”.
They concluded the letter by calling the Bill “flawed and dangerous”, saying that it places “the most vulnerable people in society at unacceptable risk” and “we urge MPs to vote against it”.
Bad law
The MPs highlighted that despite Bill supporters’ “early insistence” that the involvement of a High Court Judge would be the ‘ultimate safeguard’, the role has been removed from the Bill. They said that the replacement panel of experts “do not have the powers or functions of a court or tribunal”.
They also noted that MPs were told at Second Reading that existing laws in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were “tried and tested”, but that afterwards the Chief Medical Officer wrote to the committee to clarify that “there is no enhanced test for life and death decisions under this Act”.
This is not a way to make good law.
The letter criticised the process of the Bill saying it “does not allow expert policy development prior to drafting, lacks public consultation and transparency, and is subject to rushed and inflexible deadlines”.
They stated: “This is not a way to make good law.”
Lack of safeguards
The group were particularly concerned about lack of safeguards for vulnerable groups, including children: “Earlier in the Committee’s discussions, it became clear that the Bill would allow doctors to raise assisted dying as an option with people aged under 18.”
The very definition of ‘terminal illness’ has in fact proved to be seriously flawed
The impact on people with anorexia was also noted, informing colleagues that the Bill “would allow people with anorexia to qualify once their physical condition deteriorates to the point where they are considered to have less than six months to live”.
The MPs added: “The very definition of ‘terminal illness’ has in fact proved to be seriously flawed”.
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