MPs have rejected legislation that would have allowed assisted dying for some terminally ill adults in England and Wales.
On Friday (11 September) the assisted dying bill, introduced by Labour MP Lauren Edwards, was debated in the House of Commons. However, it was defeated by 286 votes to 270 at its second reading.
The result was unexpected because ministers previously backed similar legislation during the last Parliament. Under the proposal, put forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, adults with a terminal illness and less than six months to live would have been able to end their lives.
Despite receiving support, the earlier bill failed to become law after it was held up in the House of Lords, where several peers introduced over 1,200 amendments.
Assisted dying is considered a matter of conscience, meaning MPs are free to vote according to their own personal views rather than being required to follow a party position. Because of this, the legislation was introduced as a private members’ bill rather than being put forward by the government.
While prime minister Andy Burnham remained neutral on the issue, he appeared less supportive than his predecessor Keir Starmer.
In August Burnham announced he wouldn’t be taking part in the Commons vote and argued the debate should be put on hold until improvements had been made to social care.
During Friday’s debate Labour MP Ashley Dalton spoke about her incurable metastatic breast cancer, urging colleagues to vote down the legislation.
She said: ‘The last time this house considered this bill at second reading, I was keeping a secret. Whilst honourable and right honourable members were debating the issue, I was grappling with my own terminal diagnosis.
‘I was told I have stage four incurable metastatic breast cancer. I was overwhelmed with grief, fear and anxiety. I was scared of what was to come, and I was fearful of how it would impact my family and my loved ones…When you hear those words, depression, anxiety, grief, fear, shame, and guilt come in bounds. Suicide risk is highest immediately after diagnosis, and it usually falls quickly within three to six months.’
Dalton argued that this bill ‘makes no provision to support this difficult transition or to create safeguards around it’. She also warned that a person can ‘also be suicidal and have unmet mental health needs prior to developing a terminal illness and then ask the state to kill them, without any assessment of their psychological health, just their mental capacity’.
Disability rights group Assist Us To Live have welcomed the news and called today’s vote ‘a victory for disabled people, terminally ill people, and everyone this bill would have put at risk’.
In a statement, the group said: ‘As disabled people, we fight every day just to get support to eat, wash, leave our homes, and work, while palliative and social care systems remain dangerously underfunded.
‘We thank MPs for assisting us to live, and we’re ready to work with government to delivery the reforms we’ve been demanding.’
While speaking to The Independent, Labour MP Jess Phillips, who was in favour of the bill, said she was ‘devastated’ by the result.
‘But it’s not the end,’ she added. ‘It took many attempts to change abortion law, and so it will continue.’
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