Our Campaign Against Assisted Suicide
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.
There is currently a concerted attempt to impose assisted suicide across the UK. A Bill has just passed its third reading on the Isle of Man. It has already been approved in principle in Jersey, with politicians there now working out the details.
In Scotland, a private members bill brought by Orkney MSP Liam McArthur is making its way through Holyrood.
In Westminster, the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has committed to allowing a free vote on the subject during this Parliament. There is already a private members bill in the House of Lords.
On this page you will find general resources on assisted suicide. Please view our related campaigns below for specific threats.
Related Campaigns
People’s Stories
Ask your MP to oppose the legalisation of assisted suicide
Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP for Spen Valley, has announced that she will be bringing a bill on assisted suicide. Ms Leadbetter won top place in the private members ballot, so her bill has a high chance of succeeding if MPs vote in favour of it.
Please use our tool to contact your MP, asking them to oppose Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill.
Related Articles
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Over 15,000 assisted suicides in Canada in 2023, a “clear warning” to UK
State-sanctioned assisted suicides in Canada reached a record high, with over 15,000 such deaths recorded in 2023. SPUC says that Canada offers a “clear warning” of where the UK is heading if the Leadbeater Bill, which passed a first vote last month, is approved. 15,343 people were killed by Medical…
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“Significant” victory as Welsh Parliament rejects assisted suicide motion in Senedd
Senedd members have rejected a non-binding motion supporting an assisted suicide law. SPUC has called the result a “significant” victory for vulnerable people who would be targeted by such a law.
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Health Secretary expected to vote against assisted suicide
Health Secretary Wes Streeting says he will vote against fellow Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill because he is concerned about the state of palliative care in the UK.
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Assisted Suicide: A threat to the vulnerable?
Why do people support a change in the law on assisted suicide? According to Professor David Albert Jones, director of the Anscombe Centre for Bioethics in Oxford, the most common reasons are; avoiding a bad death involving pain, allowing choice, and to provide safeguards for something which is already happening.
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Keir Starmer refused to prosecute assisted suicide case as it wasn’t in “public interest”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “spared” a doctor who was arrested for assisting in the death of a man in 2009.
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Palliative care doctors slam assisted suicide bill as “cheaper solution” to real medicine
Palliative care doctors on the frontline of end-of-life medicine in the UK are overwhelmingly against Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill that will be voted on at the end of November, despite safety and ethical concerns.
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“Do not give doctors the right to kill you”: Harrowing warning issued on assisted suicide
Do not give doctors the right “to kill you”, Alex Schadenberg warned delegates at SPUC’s one-day conference in London, where he shared numerous horror stories about assisted suicide in Canada.
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Opposition to “dangerous” assisted suicide bill mounts as first vote is announced for 29 November
The first vote on MP Kim Leadbeater’s proposed assisted suicide bill will take place on 29 November.