Update: Baroness Coffey has withdrawn this amendment. We hope it was in light of pressure about its cruel and unworkable nature.
Original article presented below:
Liz Truss’s Health Secretary, Baroness Coffey, has proposed an amendment to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill that would ban people from accessing assisted dying if they have left the country in the past twelve months. Some would find themselves ineligible due to trips before they even found out they were terminally ill. For most, this would essentially act as a ‘holiday ban’, meaning that anyone who wants to travel abroad for the last time, or visit family members abroad, would be barred from doing so. Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision are disappointed that peers are proposing such ludicrous and cruel amendments to the Assisted Dying Bill and urge Baroness Coffey to withdraw this one.
Amendment 15 says that a person would only be eligible for an assisted death if they were ‘ordinarily resident in the UK for twelve months and has not left the UK in that twelve months. ’ This amendment would therefore bar anyone from applying for an assisted death if, in the 12 months ahead of the application, they had:
- Been on holiday
- Received a six-month terminal diagnosis having recently been abroad
- Left the country for any purpose, such as a bereavement, work or legal affairs
- Gone to visit a friend or family member in another country
53% of Brits take a holiday abroad in any given year, with 1.7 holidays per person (page 4). This means that the share of the population that would not be able to access assisted dying because, at the time of their diagnosis, they had holidayed in the previous year, would run into the tens of millions – maybe as high as 15-25 million.
People would also need to hope not to have a six-month terminal diagnosis in the autumn, because more people go on holiday in the summer than any other time of the year.
This amendment would also face practical difficulties, as it would require the doctor assessing the eligibility to have access to the patient’s travel history.
This is just one of the 71 amendments that Baroness Coffey, former Health Secretary and a Conservative peer, has put forward to the Bill. Analysis by Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision has shown that seven of the most vocal opponents to the Bill have put forward over 600 amendments between them.
Peers have been accused of attempting to sabotage the Bill, essentially causing it to fail by proposing an unreasonable number of amendments and deliberately making unnecessary speeches in order to time it out. Analysis suggests it would take two decades to debate all the current amendments.
The Bill must pass all parliamentary stages before Spring 2026, or it fails. The Government has just announced 12 further days of House of Lords time that will be set aside for it, in addition to the four days that have already occurred.
Louise Shackleton, who accompanied her husband to Dignitas in Switzerland for an assisted death, said:
‘As someone who had to go abroad with my husband to give him the compassionate, dignified death he wanted and deserved, I find this amendment shockingly cruel. People fall ill having recently been abroad, people want to fulfil their bucket list in their final months, and people want to say goodbye to their family in a different country. Dying people deserve compassion, not cruelty.
‘I am concerned that this amendment is not in good faith. It won’t keep anyone safe, or even to encourage worthwhile debate. To me, this amendment is an attempt to further run down the clock and block the Bill through procedure. That’s wrong and it’s undemocratic to use technical tricks to shut down what most people in this country clearly want.’
Graham Winyard, Board Member of My Death, My Decision, said:
‘The mask is slipping, and a small group of peers who are claiming to add scrutiny are proposing amendments designed to slow down the process. This amendment provides no extra safety and is unnecessary and cruel. It adds absolutely no additional layer of safety for terminally ill people looking for a safeguarded, compassionate route to shorten their deaths and end their suffering on their own terms. ’
Notes
Members of the MDMD team, as well as individuals affected by the current law on assisted dying, are available for interview upon request
For further comment or information, media should contact Nathan Stilwell at nathan.stilwell@mydeath-mydecision.org.uk or phone 07456200033. (media only)
Media can use the following press images and videos, as long as they are attributed to “My Death, My Decision”.
My Death, My Decision is a grassroots campaign group that wants the law in England and Wales to allow mentally competent adults who are terminally ill or intolerably suffering from an incurable condition the option of a legal, safe, and compassionate assisted death. With the support of over 3,000 members and supporters, we advocate for an evidence-based law that would balance individual choice alongside robust safeguards and finally give the people of England and Wales choice at the end of their lives.
