Yet again, disabled and terminally ill people are being put at risk. Despite the previous, deeply flawed, assisted suicide Bill falling at the end of the last session of Parliament, it has been revived by Lauren Edwards MP. For our community, this is not just a policy debate; it is an existential threat.
But, with your help, we can defeat this new Bill.
As a national, grassroots disability rights organisation run by and for disabled people, we believe the debate on assisted suicide cannot be separated from the conditions in which disabled and seriously ill people are expected to live. Yet that is what Lauren Edwards is asking MPs to support - a copy and paste Bill which is substantially the same as the one that failed in the last parliamentary session, and which therefore carries all the flaws inherent in that Bill.
All MPs need to understand that this Bill terrifies many disabled people - and for good reason. The provisions of this Bill were the subject of intensive scrutiny in the House of Lords in the previous session, and not one medical Royal College will attest to the safety of the legislation. In addition, professional bodies and other groups representing people at risk, including people with learning disabilities, have lined up to outline the Bill’s flaws.
MPs need to be in no doubt that even if they are not against assisted suicide on principle, this specific Bill is dangerously flawed. Terminal illness and disability are not separate categories - in fact, most people who are terminally ill are already disabled or will become so. They are the people who would have to live with and who would die as a result of this law.
There are five specific concerns MPs need to hear:
- Meaningful choice is a myth: Genuine autonomy is only possible when people have genuine alternatives. A choice to die is not free if the support needed to live with dignity - such as adequate housing and social care - is unavailable or being withdrawn.
- Palliative care in crisis: Our social care and hospice systems are under severe pressure. We agree with the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, that we cannot have this law change - or even begin a discussion about doing so - without fixing funding for palliative and social care.
- The reality of coercion: Pressure is rarely explicit, but can often be subtle or even unintended. It also manifests as self-coercion, where a person feels they are a burden on their family, friends or society. Lauren Edwards’ Bill fails to engage with these broader cultural pressures.
- Unworkable safeguards: Professional bodies, including the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the British Geriatrics Society and many others, have warned against the failings of the Bill, including that no provision is made to assess unmet needs. The legislation is weighted in favour of promoting eligibility rather than preventing risk.
- The threat of the Parliament Acts: The prospect of circumventing the scrutiny of the House of Lords by passing an unamended Bill - one which retains all its dangerous flaws - is a realistic one. The Bill has been shown to be defective, yet could still become law with these deficiencies intact if this route is enabled.
Again, it is possible to stop this Bill. We can win.
Amendments tabled in the House of Lords in the previous session highlighted how poorly the Bill has been drafted. Experts have lined up to question its safety and express concerns about its lack of safeguards. The new Prime Minister has said that reform of palliative and social care must come first. Crucially, only 12 MPs need to change their minds from the previous vote in the House of Commons for this Bill to be defeated. We also need to ensure those who voted against the Bill in the previous parliamentary session turn up and vote against this Bill.
As we have said before, it comes down to the sort of country and culture we want to live in. We cannot settle for less, which is what Lauren Edwards’ Bill asks MPs and the country to do.
We can and must stop this Bill. Disabled people and others at greater risk of pressure or harm need support to live, not a law that exposes them to greater danger.
Please click on the link below to take action. When you enter your postcode, you will then be asked to provide your details, and you will see a draft email for you to send to your MP. If you would like to make any changes to personalise your email before sending it, please do so - perhaps you have a personal story to share. When you hit send, your email will be sent to your MP - it will be clear to your MP that it has come from a real local constituent.
If you have additional time to give, please consider asking your MP to meet or talk with you to discuss your concerns. They need to hear just how many people are genuinely concerned about this Bill.
When you enter your postcode, you will then be asked to provide your details, and you will see a draft email that you can make changes to before sending it to your MP. When you hit send, this email will be sent to your MP along with a physical postcard to their Parliament address (you can see what that postcard looks like here) - both will include the contact details you have provided, so it is clear to your MP that the message has come from a real local constituent.
Take action today, please - you really could make all the difference.