Current assisted dying law ‘not fit for purpose’ and ‘unbelievably cruel’

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater will formally introduce a private member’s bill on assisted dying to Parliament on October 16.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater (centre) joined campaigners for assisted dying outside Parliament on Wednesday (Ben Whitley/PA) (PA Wire)

The current law on assisted dying is “not fit for purpose,” the MP leading proposals to change legislation has said.

Campaigners who are terminally ill or have watched loved ones die in pain have called the existing legislation “unbelievably cruel” and pointed out that animals suffering severely can be legally euthanised.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater will formally introduce a private member’s bill (PMB) on assisted dying on October 16, with a debate and initial vote on the matter possible within weeks.

On Wednesday afternoon, Ms Leadbeater and campaigners gathered outside the Houses of Parliament before meeting MPs to discuss the proposed bill.

Speaking to the PA news agency, the MP for Spen Valley said: “It’s been nearly 10 years since there was a vote in Parliament about the choice at the end of life and, for me, what today is all about is meeting the families who have got lived experience of this really, really important issue, so for their voices to be heard, rather than the politicians’ is really, really important.

“What they show through their stories is that the current law is not fit for purpose.

“We’ve got a duty as legislators to make robust laws that are fit for society, and at the moment this situation just isn’t,” she added.

I, myself, am allergic to opioids, so pain relievers are not going to work for me, and that's also incredibly frightening at the end

Sophie Blake, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer

Sophie Blake, 51, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer in May 2022 and given three years to live, is campaigning for a change in the law.

As a single parent, Ms Blake said she worries that her 17-year-old daughter would be “traumatised” if she died a “horrible, awful” death.

She said: “I think the current law for the terminally ill in England is unbelievably cruel.

“Thousands of people are suffering untreatable pain.

“I, myself, am allergic to opioids, so pain relievers are not going to work for me, and that’s also incredibly frightening at the end.”

She continued: “When you have a terminal illness, your life has already been thrown into utter chaos.

“It’s devastating news to actually get and to have to adapt it for yourself, as well as your family, and to have to navigate and to have to live in fear, on top of that, that we could have a horrible, excruciating death is really, really unfair.

“As a nation of animal lovers, we never let our pets suffer when it gets to that point. It’s about choice.”

Another campaigner, Warwick Jackson, 63, said his wife, who had lung cancer, had asked a nurse to “put her out of her misery” when she felt she “couldn’t carry on”.

Mr Jackson said his wife died shortly after from suffocation as the cancer she had pressed against her lungs.

“She suffered right until the end,” he continued.

“I had a moment after the nurses went when I thought maybe I should end it for her, which was a horrible thing to contemplate.

“In the end, I hadn’t got the courage to do that to my wife.

“Consequently, her suffering when on for four days and four nights.”

Mr Jackson, from Shropshire, continued: “I’ve seen how people should die but this was wrong, this was totally wrong.

“I didn’t realise people could die like that in this century, I thought we’ve moved on from that.

“You wouldn’t let an animal die like that.”

The campaigner said he is urging MPs to consider the views of their constituents on this matter, adding that research from not-for-profit organisation Dignity in Dying showed there was “overwhelming” public support for assisted dying.

Earlier the same day, Sir Keir Starmer called the matter a “really important issue” and that any change to the law must be “effective” when asked about it during Prime Minister’s Questions.

Sir Keir said last week he is pleased he could keep a vow he made to terminally ill broadcaster and campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen to make time for a debate and a vote on the subject.

It will be the first time the topic has been debated in the House of Commons since 2015, when an assisted dying Bill was defeated.

Opponents to changing the law have argued some people could feel pressured to have an assisted death against their will, and have called for more focus on improving and ensuring equal access to palliative care.