Assisted dying bill’s ‘strict’ safeguards include six-month life expectancy and jail time for coercion

12 November 2024, 06:38

A six-month life expectancy and the self-administration of fatal drugs will be a requirement for someone to take their own life under a proposed assisted dying bill.

The End of Life Bill, proposed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, will not allow someone with a disability or mental health issues to take their own life.

The details of the bill have been released ahead of MP’s first vote on the proposal on November 29.

The passage of the bill is uncertain, as MPs from across the political spectrum have voiced apprehension about changing the law.

Read more: Esther Rantzen praised by MP for 'fighting for the future of people who are terminally ill'

Labour's Health Secretary Wes Streeting voiced his fears about coercion when he told ITV's Good Morning Britain 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."

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."

Under the proposed bill, anyone who coerces someone to take life-ending drugs could face 14 years behind bars.

Doctors will not be forced to take part in the process.

The requirements for the bill include:

• 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.

Ms Leadbeater told the PA news agency 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.”