Lauren Edwards MP has announced she will bring back the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, after it was outrageously and undemocratically filibustered by a small group of peers in the House of Lords. My Death, My Decision and Humanists UK welcome the return of the Bill and urge MPs to support the Bill again.
By using her second-place position in the Private Members’ Bill ballot, Lauren Edwards MP has put assisted dying back on Parliament’s agenda.
Lauren Edwards ©House of CommonsLaurie Noble
About the filibuster of the Assisted Dying Bill:
The Terminally Ill Adults Bill failed in the House of Lords after nearly 1,300 changes to the Bill were proposed, a record for any parliamentary Bill. Amendments have included a pregnancy test for all applicants, including men, a one-year holiday ban for applicants, and an unworkable requirement for half a dozen GP visits.
We have identified several instances of peers being explicitly clear that they were trying to block the Bill by means other than it being voted down.
The Bill fell because it didn’t complete all its parliamentary stages by the end of the session.
About the Parliament Act and Private Members’ Bills
If the same Bill is approved twice by the elected House of Commons, it does not require the House of Lords’ approval, and can become law without them.
The Bill still goes through every single step, including the House of Lords again. The only thing the Parliament Act does is ensure that the elected politicians have the final say, not the unelected Lords. The House of Lords can still debate, suggest changes, and vote on the Bill. The only thing it cannot do is block it again. If the Bill is filibustered in the House of Lords again, or if it is voted down, or suggest changes that wreck the Bill that the House of Commons rejected, the Bill would still become law.
Graham Winyard, Co-chair for My Death, My Decision, said:
‘Parliament now has a chance to correct a democratic wrong, and we welcome this Bill being brought back by Lauren Edwards MP. But this is no moment for complacency. This reform should already be law. MPs backed it, the public backed it, and it should never have been derailed by a small group of unelected peers.
‘While politics catches up, terminally ill people continue to suffer behind closed doors in homes and hospitals. It is indefensible that the only route to an assisted death remains a journey to Switzerland, open only to those who are fit enough to travel, wealthy enough to afford it, and willing to die far from the people and places they love.
‘This Bill is back. Parliament must now finish the job it started.’
Humanists UK Chief Executive Andrew Copson said:
‘We congratulate Lauren Edwards MP on bringing back the Assisted Dying Bill. It’s correcting an injustice after it was undemocratically filibustered in the House of Lords. We cannot let a small group of unelected peers dictate the choices all of us have at the end of our lives.
‘We look forward to supporting Lauren as she navigates this Bill through Parliament a second time. We hope MPs look past the campaign of disinformation, and give terminally ill people choice and compassion at the end of their lives’
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 Kerry Hogan at kerry.hogan@mydeath-mydecision.org.uk or phone 07922363248. (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.
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.
Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision are both members of the Assisted Dying Coalition, along with Friends at the End, Humanist Society Scotland, and End of Life Choices Jersey.
