MPs will debate and vote on the newly proposed Assisted Dying Bill in the House of Commons for the first time on 29 November.

If the bill becomes law, it would legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults in England and Wales, although further debates and votes would be needed for it to become law.

Called the Terminally Ill Adults (End Of Life) Bill, it was brought to Westminster by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, and would allow those aged 18 and over to choose to be given assistance to end their own life. However, the bill comes with strict stipulations.

For example, they must be residents of England and Wales and registered with a GP for at least 12 months, and they must be deemed to have the mental capacity to make a clear and informed choice free from coercion.

They must make two separate witnessed declarations of their wish to die; two independent doctors must be satisfied the person is eligible; a high court judge must hear from at least one of the doctors; and they must be expected to die within six months.

Additionally, the bill would make it illegal to pressure or coerce someone into declaring their wish to die or self-administering an approved substance.

Under current law, assisted dying – the act of a terminally ill person receiving lethal drugs from a medical practitioner which are self-administered – is illegal in England and Wales.

However, several countries already have laws that make the process of assisted dying legal – including Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia and several US states including Oregon, Washington and California – and, closer to home, a separate bill is already under discussion in Scotland, while the process to introduce legislation around assisted dying in Jersey and the Isle of Man is also underway.

Understandably, the topic of assisted dying has been heatedly debated for years, and people on both sides of the argument hold strong opinions on why it should or should not be made legal.

Campaigners who want the law changed say they want people with terminal illnesses to be granted the ability to choose how and when they die – what they call a ‘dignified death.’

The campaign group Dignity In Dying claim the law in the UK is failing British people. On its website, it claims “300 dying people end their own lives in this country every year”, which it says proves the current model – of assisted dying being illegal – doesn’t work.

The group says British people are being forced to spend thousands of pounds travelling to countries where assisted dying is legal. Switzerland’s Dignitas facility, which has operated since 1998, says it had 1,900 UK members in 2023, a 24% rise on the previous year.

Dame Esther Rantzen, who has stage four lung cancer and supports the bill, told BBC News: “All I’m asking for is that we be given the dignity of choice. If I decide that my own life is not worth living, please may I ask for help to die?”

However, actor and disability rights activist Liz Carr, whose BBC One documentary, Better Off Dead?, explored the issue of assisted death and suicide, strongly opposes the law being altered, as she fears disabled lives will be put at risk.

“Some of us have very real fears based on our lived experience and based on what has happened in other countries where it’s legal,” she wrote on X.

The concern is that the Assisted Dying Bill is a “slippery slope” to allowing more than just terminally ill people to opt for an assisted death.

In her documentary, Carr visited Canada, where assisted dying has been legal since 2016. However, while the law initially only deemed people with a terminal illness to be eligible for assisted dying, in 2021 it was changed to include those with serious and chronic physical conditions, including non-life threatening conditions. This caused a surge in assisted dying in Canada - in 2016, 1,000 people chose a medically assisted death; in 2022, this rose to 13,000. 

Meanwhile, the law in the Netherlands states that anyone experiencing “unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement” is eligible for assisted dying, and there is evidence that learning disability and autism have been cited as reasons for suffering in as many as 42% of cases.

Leadbeater has countered this argument, saying that the law wouldn’t be amendable if it was passed, and is instead about easing and shortening the death of those who are already dying.

Others are concerned that the change in law would bring yet another financial burden onto the NHS. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, told Times Radio: “There would be resource implications for [making assisted dying legal]. And those choices would come at the expense of other choices.”

Additionally, those who work in palliative care state that, if the service was funded properly, life for terminally ill people would be more bearable and therefore less likely to feel as though assisted dying is their only option.

However, others argue that legalising assisted dying would alleviate costs for the NHS. Former Labour minister Margaret Hodge told the BBC’s Politics Live: “If you look at the NHS budget, most of it goes on the last six months of life.”

Images: Getty