2014 – Only with your support can we change the law
This summer Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill will be debated in the House of Lords. Bills are normally passed unopposed at this stage. However, in 2006 opponents of change tabled and won a ‘wrecking’ amendment which defeated Lord Joffe’s Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill. This time round we aim to overcome any attempts to wreck the Bill.
Your support and any efforts you can make in promoting a change in the law will make all the difference.
We know that the majority of the British public support assisted dying . We need the Lords to know just how strongly we feel about terminally ill, mentally competent Britons being forced to suffer against their wishes. Dying people should have access to good quality end-of-life care and the choice of an assisted death, within upfront safeguards, if they consider their suffering unbearable.
Terminally ill Britons should not be forced to suffer against their wishes
Assisted dying is for people who are already dying but would otherwise have to go through weeks of unnecessary suffering.
Penelope Duck should not have had to suffer the way she did. Dying from terminal cancer, Penelope was in a permanent state of suffering and physical pain. As her husband Michael said:
She was broken hearted and in a living hell while she waited to die
Unnecessary suffering like this has to stop. And it can be stopped. This year we are going to be campaigning harder than ever to make it known that we won’t accept it happening to our loved ones any longer.
Together we will change the law on assisted dying.
What you can do now
We will send messages nearer the time of the debate with information on how you can get in touch with members of the House of Lords to urge them to support the Bill. To stay in touch and get the latest news from the campaign you can:
- Follow us on twitter and Facebook,
- Sign up to receive our weekly emails.
In the meantime please continue to promote the campaign amongst your family and friends. This could involve sharing our social media posts and emails, voicing your support in the comments sections of articles that mention the topic or by discussing the desperate need for a change in the law.
Share your story
If you have had to witness a loved one suffer unnecessarily at the end of life and would like to share your story in support of the campaign, please get in touch. Adding your voice to the campaign in this way highlights the cruelty of the current situation and the very urgent need to change the law.