More MPs withdraw support for assisted suicide Bill

Several MPs have announced they intend to vote against Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill, having previously supported it.

Labour MPs Jonathan Hinder, Debbie Abrahams and Peter Lamb, and Conservative Andrew Snowden all voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in November but have since decided that it has been rushed and lacks adequate safeguards.

In its current form, the unpopular proposals would allow patients deemed to be terminally ill and with less than six months to live, to receive help to kill themselves. MPs are set to debate the proposals again later in June – 28 MPs would need to switch their vote to stop the Bill.

Impractical

On an article for his website, Lamb explained that he had previously been keen to bring forward legislation on assisted suicide himself, seeing it as “the next great liberal reform”. He now believes that “the arguments against such a change begin to stack up very quickly.”

I do not believe that the case has been made for a change in the law

He added: “At the end of this process, I have come to believe that whatever the good motivations of those proposing this bill, the ethical argument they have put forward exists only so long as effective palliative care is not delivered”, adding: “its implementation and the wider consequences will go far further than they have considered”.

“On that basis, I do not believe that the case has been made for a change in the law, and I therefore believe I am obligated to oppose the passage of the bill through the remaining stages of the process.”

Rushed and unsafe

MP for Pendle and Clitheroe Jonathan Hinder stated: “We were told that the proposed safeguards were the strictest in the world, only for the approval of a High Court judge to be removed shortly after second reading. To me, this is the most obvious indicator that this Bill has been rushed and a lot more work needs to be done to make it practicable and safe.”

this Bill has been rushed

Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, explained: “Primarily I’m concerned that if the Bill was approved, society would have accepted that under certain circumstances the state will assist someone to die.”

MP for Fylde Andrew Snowden commented: “trying to make this change – which is literally a matter of life and death – through a Private Members Bill is not the right way to go about it”.

Psychiatrists opposed

Kim Leadbeater’s Bill was recently dealt another blow when the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) announced it cannot support it.

if the Bill was approved, society would have accepted that under certain circumstances the state will assist someone to die

Dr Lade Smith, the President of the RCPsych, urged MPs to prevent the “inadequate” proposals from becoming law.

One of the claimed safeguards in the legislation is that applications for assisted suicide will be dealt with by a three-person panel including a psychiatrist. This was only introduced after the judiciary said High Court involvement was “unworkable”.