There is currently a concerted effort to push assisted suicide legislation through Parliament. One such threat comes in the form of a bill in the House of Lords.
Lord Falconer of Thoroton came second in the ballot for peers to introduce a private members bill. His Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill [HL] is scheduled to be debated on November 15.
This date might change, depending on whether a bill is first introduced in the House of Commons. However, any bill, whether it is this one or one that begins in the Commons, would have to pass through the House of Lords. Therefore, we need to lobby peers to reject any legislation to introduce assisted suicide.
Please write to members of the House of Lords asking them to reject assisted suicide.
Writing paper letters is far more effective than emails (and the majority of Lords do not have public email addresses). We have therefore created a tool that helps you to write your letter, which you can then print out and send in the post.
Follow these steps to write your letter:
- The tool has brought up a peer for you to write to.
- Write your letter in the editor and press continue. The letter will be emailed to you.
- Check your email. Print your letter out.
- Address the envelope [Name of Peer], House of Lords, London SW1A 0PW
- Stick on a stamp, and put it in the post!
We are not providing a template text, 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.
What should I write?
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.
We have produced a briefing on the Falconer Bill, which you can use and quote from. We also have a number of briefings on our Lives Worth Living page.