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 is now receiving line by line scrutiny by a Committee of MPs. This will be followed by Report stage, with MPs given another chance to vote at Third Reading. This will likely take place in April.
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. What we must do now is lobby MPs to reject the Bill at Third Reading. You can do this by:
Writing to your MP
Lobbying your MP in person
See below for tools and guidance to help you take these actions effectively.
Write to Your MP
Please use our tool to contact your MP, asking them to oppose Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill.
You can find out how your MP voted on the 29th at the second reading at this link.
At this point in time, we want to make MPs aware of the many flaws in the Bill, and of the way it is being handled, by highlighting evidence given at the Committee stage. We have put a number of clips from the oral evidence sessions on YouTube, which you can find here. Please choose one or a small number of clips and copy the links into the email template below. You can use this evidence from the Committee to explain why you are concerned about the Bill.
You could also point out that the Bill’s sponsor is now planning to drop the requirement for a High Court Judge to sign off requests for assisted suicide.
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.
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? You can also use other people’s stories, from our stories booklet.
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.
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 briefing on the Bill to go and lobby your MSP in person.
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.
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.
Related Articles
-
British Medical Association says assisted suicide is not healthcare and presents “serious moral hazards to consultants”
BMA consultants have voted in favour of a motion stating that assisted suicide is not healthcare and presents “serious moral hazards to consultants”.
-
Assisted suicide committee votes to remove High Court judge safeguard
The MP committee scrutinising Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill has voted to scrap the High Court judge safeguard that would have required a higher level of judicial sign-off.
-
Assisted suicide committee rejects amendment protecting people with Down’s syndrome, MP tries to censor backlash
MP Kit Malthouse has attempted to censor the backlash after an assisted suicide committee rejected an amendment that would have stopped doctors from suggesting suicide to people with Down’s syndrome.
-
Assisted suicide “may hamper suicide prevention work” in UK, warns government adviser
The chair of the government’s national suicide prevention strategy advisory group has warned against legalising assisted suicide.
-
Disabled Canadian issues “terrifying” warning about assisted suicide to Scots
His message to Scots comes as Scotland considers similar legislation: “I believe my own experience is a cautionary tale of how well-intended laws go very wrong.”
-
Over a hundred MPs turn against assisted suicide bill after High Court “safeguard” rule ditched, now deemed a “ruse”
The change comes after Ms Leadbeater scrapped the requirement to have a High Court judge approve assisted suicide cases.
-
Disability expert slams “nonsensical” assisted suicide bill and its lack of safeguards for disabled people
Dr Griffiths was one of the few disability experts to appear before the ongoing committee hearing into Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s Bill.
-
Assisted suicides to be signed off by “experts” instead of High Court judges, says Bill sponsor in shameless U-turn
Kim Leadbeater MP has proposed that a panel of “experts” should sign off on assisted suicides instead of High Court judges, having previously stated that judges would safeguard against coercion.