Assisted dying: Shropshire widower 'absolutely was not ready' to witness wife's suffering
MPs will debate and are expected to vote on proposed legislation for the first time in almost a decade.
Last updated 29th Nov 2024
MPs in the House of Commons will debate an assisted dying bill today and are likely to vote on proposed legislation for the first time in almost a decade.
Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater has put forward the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, saying it is about giving choice to dying people and is “robust”, with potentially the “strictest protections” against coercion anywhere in the world, requiring sign-off by two doctors and a High Court judge.
Some MPs and campaigners have raised concerns that the Bill has been rushed and will not get the scrutiny it requires – an argument rejected by Ms Leadbeater who insisted it is likely to be subject to more scrutiny because of the level of public debate on the divisive issue.
Warwick Jackson from Bridgnorth has been campaigning for assisted dying since losing his wife Ann in 2020. She had stage 4 cancer which put pressure on her lungs and caused difficultly breathing.
He said: "Although I'd been with people as they died before, I absolutely was not ready for the kind of death which Ann had because her cancer was pressing against the outside of her lungs.
"In fact her breathing deteriorated to the point where she was actually struggling for breath and then suffocating.
"She'd had the maximum dose of sedative but it wasn't enough to knock her out, so she was lucid throughout the entire ordeal - other than the last day.
"There's nothing in palliative care for suffocation. We arranged electric fans around her so that she could at least feel some air flow. We had hand-held electric fans which she directed into her mouth.
"This spectacle started to unfold in our lounge, which was the site of somebody, slowly having the air squeezed out of them.
"She struggled in the most horrendous way. Against her wishes to be kept alive, she was being kept alive by the system.
"I just witnessed the ugliest, most unpleasant spectacle, which I knew was totally, totally wrong.
Here's everything you need to know about what's happening today:
What is assisted dying?
This, and the language used, varies depending on who you ask.
Pro-change campaigners Dignity in Dying argue that, along with good care, dying people who are terminally ill and mentally competent adults deserve the choice to control the timing and manner of their death.
But the campaign group Care Not Killing uses the terms “assisted suicide” and “euthanasia”, and argues that the focus should be on “promoting more and better palliative care” rather than any law change.
They say legalising assisted dying could “place pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives for fear of being a financial, emotional or care burden upon others” and argue the disabled, elderly, sick or depressed could be especially at risk.
What is the current law?
Assisted suicide is banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.
In Scotland, it is not a specific criminal offence but assisting the death of someone can leave a person open to being charged with murder or other offences.
What is happening at Westminster today?
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater formally introduced her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill to Parliament in October.
If the Bill passes the first stage in the Commons today, it will go to committee stage where MPs can table amendments, before facing further scrutiny and votes in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Ms Leadbeater’s Bill would apply only to England and Wales, a seperate member's bill has been introduced in Scotland, but not voted on yet. Nothing has yet been passed in Northern Ireland.
Who would be eligible for assisted dying?
Only terminally adults who are expected to die within six months and who have been resident in England and Wales and registered with a GP for at least 12 months.
They must have the mental capacity to make a choice about the end of their life and be deemed to have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish – free from coercion or pressure – to end their life.
How would the process work?
The terminally ill person must make two separate declarations, witnessed and signed, about their wish to die.
The process must involve two independent doctors being satisfied the person is eligible and the medics can consult a specialist in the person’s condition and get an assessment from an expert in mental capacity if deemed necessary.
A High Court judge must hear from at least one of the doctors regarding the application and can also question the dying person as well as anyone else they consider appropriate.
How long would it take?
There must be at least seven days between the two doctors making their assessments and a further 14 days after the judge has made a ruling, for the person to have a period of reflection on their decision.
For someone whose death is expected imminently, the 14-day period could be reduced to 48 hours.
What safeguards are there?
It would be illegal for someone to pressure, coerce or use dishonesty to get someone to make a declaration that they wish to end their life or to induce someone to self-administer an approved substance.
If someone is found guilty of either of these actions, they could face a jail sentence of up to 14 years.
What are the views of the public on assisted dying?
This varies. Research by the Policy Institute and the Complex Life and Death Decisions group at King’s College London (KCL) in September suggested almost two-thirds of just over 2,000 adults surveyed in England and Wales want assisted dying to be legalised for terminally ill adults in the next five years.
But it showed the changeable nature of some people’s views, with some of those voicing support saying they could change their minds if they felt someone had been pressured into choosing an assisted death or had made the choice due to lack of access to care.