Assisted Dying

Cat Eccles speaking with residents at an Assisted Dying engagement event

Moral matters such as assisted dying will be subject to a conscience vote, this means that MPs will not be voting along party-political lines but on what they individually believe, and I will set out the reasoning for my thoughts below. 

I believe that assisted dying should be legal in the UK for mentally competent adults who are terminally ill or have an intolerable chronic condition. 

In my varied NHS career, I have seen all aspects of death and disease. As healthcare professionals we commit to do no harm first and foremost, and as medicine advances at breakneck speed, we are able to preserve life beyond what could have been thought possible in the past. However, I've seen many times when preserving life seems harmful. 

Life prolonging treatments do not always improve quality of life and patients suffer pain and discomfort, as well as mental distress. Families and friends have to watch their loved ones go through these difficult experiences. I believe patients should have a choice to end their life with dignity when faced with a terminal illness. 

The widely circulated Falconer bill would offer the possibility of an assisted death for terminally ill, mentally competent adults who have been given less than 6 months to live. However, I think a wider scope to include people with suffering from intolerable conditions would be more appropriate. 

An application would be made to the High Court judge, meeting strict legal safeguards, to allow people to lawfully be provided with assistance to end their own life. Many other countries have introduced legislation for assisted dying, most recently in Jersey in the Channel Islands, which most closely mirrors my view. There is similar legislation in place in Canada, Spain, and Colombia. 

I do not consider assisted dying to be any alternative to end-of-life care, and I will continue to campaign for better support in palliative care and increased funding to our hospices. I believe the two must go hand in hand. 

I very much recommend reading Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, which explores dying and end of life care from a medical perspective, and the need for dignity and quality of life. 

The Assisted Dying Bill has been formally introduced to the House of Commons, and will receive its Second Reading on Friday 29th November, where MPs will be given a chance to formally debate it. I will be attending this debate.

There has been some criticism that the Bill is being rushed through Parliament. I completely understand the concern around that, and how that might look. An important piece of clarification however, is that the vote on Friday 29th November is for the ‘Second Reading’ of the Bill. What that means is that this is a vote on the principle of the Bill. If it passes on the 29th, it will go to the Committee stage, where the law is scrutinised line-by-line by MPs. Amendments are added or subtracted, and then the Bill will go to the ‘Third Reading’, where MPs vote on the practice of the Bill. If the Bill passes this, it will go through the same process in the House of Lords. If the Bill passed through the Lords, and receives Royal Assent, only then does it become law. There will be a lot of scrutiny for this Bill outside of the vote on the 29th and so people should not worry about this being rushed.

I hope this explains my view and why I would vote in favour of the assisted dying bill. I am happy to discuss this further and thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me.