Terminally ill people urge Peers: keep our voices at the centre as Lords return to debate Assisted Dying Bill

The letter – signed by people living with terminal cancer, MND, MS and other illnesses, and by families who have witnessed traumatic deaths under the current ban on assisted dying– warns Peers against frustrating the democratic will of the elected Commons, which has twice voted to back the Bill. Signatories will be in Parliament this morning to speak directly with Peers and reiterate their call for compassionate, evidence-based scrutiny.

Their intervention comes after 67 cross-party peers jointly wrote  to the House of Lords yesterday, reminding colleagues that “our task is to test and refine the Bill where genuine improvements can be made, while respecting both the will of the Commons and the overwhelming support of the public.” The senior group – including eminent medical professionals, former party leaders, two former Cabinet Secretaries and a former Lords Speaker – emphasise that Peers must: “complete the careful work begun by the Commons and deliver a safe, compassionate law for terminally ill people.”

YouGov polling published yesterday, commissioned by Dignity in Dying, on the role of the unelected chamber shows that: 6 in 10 (58%) say it is not acceptable for the Lords to “talk out” a Bill once it has passed the Commons, with just one in six (17%) saying it would be acceptable. Only one in four (24%) believe it is acceptable for the Lords to table wrecking amendments.* 

Sarah Wootton, Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying, said:

“Peers have a responsibility to ensure this debate focuses on the people whose lives and deaths are shaped by the current blanket ban on assisted dying; a law that has remained unchanged for more than six decades. Terminally ill people and their families have been crystal clear: they want their voices respected, not pushed aside by attempts to bury this Bill under procedural games. After more than 130 hours of debate over many months,  the country is watching and rightly expecting the Lords to engage with the evidence, compassion, and lived reality at the heart of this issue.”

“What must not happen now is an effort to talk the Bill out. With nearly a thousand amendments tabled, many of which would harm rather than protect – including proposals that would bar a dying person from going on a final ‘bucket-list’ trip abroad, and even amendments requiring terminally ill women to provide a negative pregnancy test – the risk of deliberate time-wasting is clear and profoundly unfair. This Bill has twice won the backing of the elected Commons and carries overwhelming public support. Peers should honour that, keep dying people at the centre of this debate, and allow the Bill the fair and focused scrutiny it deserves.”

ENDS

*For more information and general media requests, please email Media & Campaigns Officer, Tom Steen at tom.steen@dignityindying.org.uk or call 07356135578*