Two independent doctors would be required to approve a terminally ill patient’s request to end their own life under a new assisted dying bill proposed in Parliament.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has been proposed by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, the full text of which has been published today.
It set out various safeguards for those who want to seek assistance to end their own life. These include:
- Patients must be 18, a resident of England or Wales and be registered with a GP for at least 12 months,
- They must have the mental capacity to make the choice to seek assistance and to have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish free from pressure or coercion,
- Two independent doctors must be satisfied that the person is eligible, with at least seven days between the assessments,
- A High Court judge must hear from at least one of the doctors and they can question others if appropriate.
- The patient must be expected to die within six months,
- They need to make two separate declarations about their wish to die, both of which must be witnessed and signed.
The bill would also mean anyone found guilty of encouraging someone to apply for assisted dying through ‘dishonesty, coercion or pressure’ could face up to 14 years in prison.
Ms Leadbeater said on X that ‘the law as it stands is not fit for purpose’.
Speaking to The House magazine, she said: ‘I have been consulting very widely over the past few weeks, mainly because I’m not the sort of person who would embark on a task like this without delving deeply into the issue first. But, also, because I am clear that if we are to have a new law it must be a good law.’
She added: ‘I believe when they [MPs] study it in detail, they will see that the bill offers hope to those terminally ill people with a clear, informed and settled wish to have a better death, while at the same time protecting all those approaching the end of their life from coercion or pressure to make a decision that isn’t right for them.’
However, over 3,400 doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals have signed a letter to the Prime Minister to warn that assisted dying cannot be introduced safely while the NHS is ‘broken’, according to The Telegraph.
Organised by campaign group Our Duty of Care, the letter states: ‘The NHS is broken, with health and social care in disarray. Palliative care is woefully underfunded and many lack access to specialist provision. The thought of assisted suicide being introduced and managed safely at such a time is remarkably out of touch with the gravity of the current mental health crisis and pressures on staff.’
Health secretary Wes Streeting said in October that he was worried about palliative and end-of-life care ‘not being good enough to give people a real choice’ on Good Morning Britain, saying he would vote against changing the law on assisted dying.
In February, the Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) released a report into assisted dying, saying that ICBs must do more to meet the palliative care needs of the population.
MPs are expected to vote on the bill on Friday 29 November.
