Terminally ill can end their lives in just 21 days under new proposed assisted dying laws
12 November 2024, 08:47 | Updated: 12 November 2024, 09:17
People who are terminally ill will be able to take their own lives just 21 days after beginning the assisted dying process, under a new law proposed by a Labour MP.
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Under the End of Life Bill, proposed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, people must be over 18, and have at most six months left to live. Simply being disabled or mentally ill will not make someone eligible.
Anyone who wants to take their own life under the new law must live in England or Wales, have been registered with a GP for at least a year and have the mental capacity to make the right decision.
They must take the fatal medicine themselves - neither a doctor nor anyone else can administer it.
The details of the bill have been released ahead of MP’s first vote on the proposal on November 29.
Dame Esther Rantzen hails Labour's 'extraordinary' Kim Leadbeater for the assisted dying bill
Other eligibility rules to die under the proposed law include a requirement for people to make two clear, separate and un-coerced declarations of their wishes, signed and witnessed.
Two separate doctors must approve the application, at least seven days apart. No doctor will be required to sign off on an application.
Their application will then go before a High Court judge, and a further 14 days have to elapse after that before the person can be allowed to kill themselves under the proposed law.
Both doctors who sign off on the application must satisfy them that the person is eligible and has not been coerced. They must also be satisfied that the person is making an informed choice and are aware of their other treatment options, including palliative and hospice care.
If anyone is found to have coerced someone into killing themselves via assisted dying they will face a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
Read more: Esther Rantzen praised by MP for 'fighting for the future of people who are terminally ill'
The passage of the bill is uncertain, as MPs from across the political spectrum have voiced apprehension about changing the law and they have a free vote.
A palliative care doctor who is opposed to assisted dying said that the details of the bill show the public have been "hoodwinked".
Dr Cajetan Skowronski told LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: "They've always been saying it's about very extreme cases, patients who are suffering terrible pain at the end of their life, who palliative care cannot help, which is a very, very small portion of our patients.
"This bill is for anybody, for any reason, who has a very rough six month life expectancy."
Keir Starmer, who has previously voiced tentative support for the bill, said on Tuesday that he was unsure whether he would vote for it.
Both of the ministers who would theoretically have oversight of the bill have also expressed misgivings.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting voiced his fears about coercion when he said last month he worries "about those people who think they've almost got a duty to die to relieve the burden on their loved ones."
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she would vote against the bill. “I don’t intend to support it in the future … I feel that once you cross that line you’ve crossed it for ever."
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said assisted dying "has led to a slippery slope" elsewhere in the world.
Ms Leadbeater previously said any assisted dying bill must have the “strictest protections.”
She said: "I am clear that if we are to have a new law it must be a good law."
Ms Leadbeater said that the first assisted death under her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill if it was passed was likely to be two to three years away.
She recognised this is "heartbreaking in some respects" for those people and families for whom it will be too late.
The Labour MP described the past few months as "harrowing" as she heard stories of people's experiences with particularly difficult deaths.
Ms Leadbeater said she had been approached by people at the train station and in the street who have shared their stories.
She said: "People who have had partners, wives beg them to end their life because they're in so much pain, because palliative care safely has not met their needs.
"People who have found relatives who've taken their own lives, under horrible circumstances.
"It's been a really tough process if I'm honest, I've spent a huge amount of my time talking about death. And for most cases pretty horrible deaths."
But the MP said it has been "positive" in the sense it has opened up a conversation, with people telling her how they have now spoken to their parents or friends about their feelings on the issue.
Ms Leadbeater said: "If we can facilitate that debate, whatever happens with the Bill, I think that's got to be a good thing.”
Assisted Dying eligibility
- Those taking part must be 18 or over and registered with a GP.
- A life-expectancy of six months.
- Must have the “mental capacity” to make the decision.
- A "clear, settled and informed" wish to die.
- Two independent doctors must sign off on the decision.
- A high-court judge must consider the application.
- The person must officially confirm they wish to die on two separate occasions.
