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About the Bill
On 29th November 2024, MPs voted by 330 to 275 to give Kim Leadbeater MP’s the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill a second reading.
The Bill was then examined by a Committee of MPs, where it was substantially amended, before being debated at Report stage by all MPs. On 20 June, MPs voted by 314 to 291 to pass Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill to the House of Lords, by a reduced majority of 23.
What can we do now?
The Bill will now pass to the House of Lords for further debate and scrutiny. It is entirely in the Lords’ power to substantially amend and even to reject the Bill. This Bill is not safe, and we must campaign for them to throw it out.
The Bill will receive it’s Second Reading in the Lords on 12 September.
Please write to members of the House of Lords, asking them to oppose the Bill. To help you, we have produced two briefings:
The briefings give you facts and tips, but please include your own concerns and personal experience. Do you have a disability or care for someone who does? Who would you be fearful for if the Bill makes it into law? Do you have relevant professional experience, such as in medicine, care work, or social care?
Please use our tool to contact members of the House of Lords. It will generate a Peer at random for you to write to and bring up a space for you to write your letter. Once you have finished your letter, it will be emailed to you to print off and send to the Peer by post. Paper letters are always more impactful than emails, and many Peers do not have publicly available email addresses!
You can contact as many Peers as you like (but send the letters in separate envelopes).
Write to the Lords
Writing paper letters is far more effective than emails (and the majority of Lords do not have public email addresses). We have therefore created a tool that helps you to write your letter, which you can then print out and send in the post.
Follow these steps to write your letter:
- The tool has brought up a peer for you to write to.
- Customise your letter in the editor and press Send. The letter will be emailed to you.
- Check your email and print your letter out.
- Address the envelope [Name of Peer], House of Lords, London SW1A 0PW
- Stick on a stamp, and put it in the post!
How Did Your MP Vote?
Enter your postcode to check how your MP voted with regards to the Third Reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
How to Write to Members of the House of Lords
This briefing explains how to write letters to Peers, with tips
to make them as effective as possible.
Get the Briefing
A briefing on the private member’s bill introduced by Kim Leadbeater MP.
Get the Briefing
A briefing on the problems of the proposed assisted suicide panels.
Watch the Webinar: How to stop assisted suicide
Webinar
Watch Dr. Dominic Whitehouse’s Webinar: The Case Against Assisted Suicide and How to Stop It
Dr. Dominic Whitehouse is a palliative care consultant. He recently toured the UK speaking at three major meetings, explaining why the legalisation of assisted suicide would be harmful to doctors, patients and society. Click below to view Dr Whitehouse’s talk at the SPUC webinar
Free 45 minute webinar
Essential knowledge to impact upcoming UK legislation
Assisted suicide is not a solution to pain
Good palliative care should ensure that pain is controlled well, and some people suffer horrible deaths due to adverse effects of experimental drugs used for assisted suicide in other countries.
Where assisted suicide is legal, one reason people choose to die is because they feel they are a burden on others.
People with disabilities and the terminally ill will particularly fear the passing of this law which could make them feel pressured to end their lives.
Most doctors remain opposed to assisted suicide
The majority of doctors in the UK remain opposed to the introduction of assisted dying. This opposition is strongest amongst doctors who work most closely with dying patients.
Earlier this year, SPUC reported on a recent Association of Palliative Medicine (APM) survey that found such doctors were “concerned” that a focus on “traumatic” and “negative” patient cases was being used to manipulate the British public into supporting assisted suicide.
Lives Worth Living: Visit Our Assisted Suicide Campaign Page
SPUC upholds the right to life from conception until natural death, and has played a part in resisting many attempts both in Parliament and in the courts to change the law on assisted suicide.
Please visit the the page to access free resources and find out how you can join our campaign.
Related Articles
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Hundreds of medical students oppose assisted suicide bill that “places vulnerable patients in danger”
Over 300 student doctors from across the UK have voiced their opposition to MP Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill, that passed its vote at Third Reading this afternoon. “We write not only as future doctors, but as the next generation of advocates for patient care and safety”, they said in…
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SPUC voices “deep disappointment” after MPs pass assisted suicide bill by just 23 votes
Westminster MPs today voted in favour of Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill by 314 to 291. The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) voiced its “deep disappointment” and called the decision an “abdication” of MP responsibilities.
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Legalising assisted suicide could “break the NHS” and ruin Labour’s legacy, Dame Siobhain McDonagh warns
Labour’s Dame Siobhain McDonagh has warned that legalising assisted suicide could “break the NHS”. Her comments come ahead of a crucial House of Commons vote on MP Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill on Friday, 20 June.
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Over 50 Labour MPs demand that Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill be delayed
The House of Commons has been asked to delay a vote on MP Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill in an intervention by over 50 Labour MPs stating: “The private member’s bill process has shown itself to be a woefully inadequate vehicle for the introduction of such a foundational change to…
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The Assisted Suicide Bill Moves Forward Despite Growing Alarm
Amid a growing chorus of concern over the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, on Friday 20 June, the House of Commons is set to decide whether assisted suicide will be legalised in England and Wales. Once the Bill has had its Third Reading next Friday, it will move…
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Late amendment to ban Dr Death’s suicide pod ahead of crucial MP vote on Leadbeater Bill
Conservative MP Greg Stafford seeks to ban the Sacro Pod, the invention of Philip Nitschke, also known as “Dr Death”.
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Royal College of Pathologists rejects Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill ahead of crucial debate and vote
They said it could not support the Bill as its members would be included in the assisted suicide process.
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Over 1,000 doctors urge MPs to reject dangerous assisted suicide bill ahead of crucial vote
The letter slammed Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill as a “real threat to both patients and the medical workforce”.