About the Bill
On 29th November 2024, MPs voted by 330 to 275 to give Kim Leadbeater MP’s the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill a second reading.
The Bill was then examined by a Committee of MPs, where it was substantially amended. MPs will have a final chance to propose amendments at Report Stage, which was pushed back by the Bill’s sponsor to 16 May. The final chance for MPs to vote on the Bill, at Third Reading, may also take place on 16 May, or proceedings could carry over onto the next available Friday (13 June)
What can we do now?
While the result in November was disappointing, the fight is far from over. Many MPs have already said that they could change their vote if they are not satisfied with the details of this bill.
To win this, we need just 28 MPs who voted for the Bill in November to change their vote and oppose it at Third Reading. And, of course, we need to make sure that the MPs who voted the right way before do so again.
If your MP voted against the Bill in November, thank them and urge them to continue opposing the Bill.
If your MP voted for the Bill, please respectfully urge them to vote against at Third Reading.
What we must do now is lobby MPs to reject the Bill at Third Reading. You can do this by:
Lobbying your MP in person
Writing to your MP
See below for tools and guidance to help you take these actions effectively.
Lobby your MP in person
While writing is very valuable, the most effective form of lobbying is to go and see your MP in person.
We have produced a guide to lobbying your MP in person specifically on this issue. Please use this and the following resources to help you with your message:
- Stories of Ordinary People Opposed to Assisted Suicide
- Briefing on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
- The Terminally Ill Adults End of Life Bill: The Problem with Assisted Suicide Panels
- Amendments and Voting Outcomes during the Committee Stage of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
- Key quotes from evidence sessions during the Committee stage of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Write to Your MP
Please use our tool to contact your MP, asking them to oppose Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill.
Enter your postcode to find out who your MP is, and how he/she voted at Second Reading.
We are not providing a template text at this stage, as politicians appreciate genuine, heartfelt messages over copied-and-pasted content. Politicians soon recognise if they are receiving identical communications copied and pasted from templates or campaign websites.
Here are some resources to help you with your message:
- Briefing on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
- The Terminally Ill Adults End of Life Bill: The Problem with Assisted Suicide Panels
- Stories of Ordinary People Opposed to Assisted Suicide
- Amendments and Voting Outcomes during the Committee Stage of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
- Key quotes from evidence sessions during the Committee stage of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Write about your own concerns about assisted suicide. Do you have a disability that will make you vulnerable? Or have family members you’d be worried about?
Remember that many MPs who might vote against assisted suicide will not be pro-life on abortion. It would therefore be prudent to only talk about this issue on this occasion. Emphasising the threat to the vulnerable is more likely to resonate with MPs than religious arguments.
Please send a message to your MPs asking them to vote against the Bill at Third Reading.
1
Enter your postcode in the box below
Once you have entered your postcode, the tool will bring up your local MP and the form below will automatically be filled with their contact details.
2
Write your message to your MP
You can now enter your message to your MP in the ‘Message’ box below. If you are not sure what to write, please read our guides above for assistance.
3
Send E-mail
Once you have written your e-mail message and are ready to send it to your MP, simply click to select how you would like to send it. You have two options: option 1 allows you to send the e-mail directly from your own e-mail address and option 2 allows SPUC to send the e-mail on your behalf. MPs prefer to received personal e-mail from their constituents so we encourage you to select the first option. This will open up your e-mail and all the information (including your message) will be automatically added to your e-mail, ready for you to press send.
Order Leaflets
We have prepared leaflets you can share in your churches or community centres. If you would like to order them, please follow the link below.
Get the Briefing
A briefing on the private member’s bill introduced by Kim Leadbeater MP.
Get the Briefing
A briefing on the problems of the proposed assisted suicide panels.
Watch the Webinar: How to stop assisted suicide
Webinar
Watch Dr. Dominic Whitehouse’s Webinar: The Case Against Assisted Suicide and How to Stop It
Dr. Dominic Whitehouse is a palliative care consultant. He recently toured the UK speaking at three major meetings, explaining why the legalisation of assisted suicide would be harmful to doctors, patients and society. Click below to view Dr Whitehouse’s talk at the SPUC webinar
Free 45 minute webinar
Essential knowledge to impact upcoming UK legislation
Assisted suicide is not a solution to pain
Good palliative care should ensure that pain is controlled well, and some people suffer horrible deaths due to adverse effects of experimental drugs used for assisted suicide in other countries.
Where assisted suicide is legal, one reason people choose to die is because they feel they are a burden on others.
People with disabilities and the terminally ill will particularly fear the passing of this law which could make them feel pressured to end their lives.
Most doctors remain opposed to assisted suicide
The majority of doctors in the UK remain opposed to the introduction of assisted dying. This opposition is strongest amongst doctors who work most closely with dying patients.
Earlier this year, SPUC reported on a recent Association of Palliative Medicine (APM) survey that found such doctors were “concerned” that a focus on “traumatic” and “negative” patient cases was being used to manipulate the British public into supporting assisted suicide.
Lives Worth Living: Visit Our Assisted Suicide Campaign Page
SPUC upholds the right to life from conception until natural death, and has played a part in resisting many attempts both in Parliament and in the courts to change the law on assisted suicide.
Please visit the the page to access free resources and find out how you can join our campaign.
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