UK assisted suicide bill will go to a vote on September 11, 2026

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The UK Leadbeater assisted suicide bill that failed to pass earlier this year in the House of Lords has been revived by Lauren Edwards MP with nearly identical language as the failed Leadbeater bill.

On November 29, 2024; Members of the UK House of Commons voted 330 to 275 at second reading to support Kim Leadbeater's assisted suicide bill.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition urges the UK to Kill the bill not the patients.

The Care Not Killing Alliance stated in their July 17 report that:

Yesterday, Lauren Edwards MP published her Private Member’s Bill. We say “her” bill, but it is essentially the same as the one which foundered in the Lords earlier this year: they could have taken this opportunity to reflect and respond to the many concerns of experts and professional groups, but the clear priority is to leave open the door to use of the Parliament Acts, and so you can be sure that there will be strenuous efforts to prevent MPs from seeking amendments to the Bill.

The House of Lords debate exposed serious flaws with the Leadbeater assisted suicide bill and yet Edwards insists on pushing the same flawed bill because, if passed by the House of Commons, it would not be required to be debated by the House of Lords, where strong opposition to assisted suicide exists.

The Parliament Acts have only been used seven times since 1911 for Government legislation, and it has never been used for a Private Members’ Bill. Edwards assisted suicide is a private members bill.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is convinced that Edwards, who is a Labour MP for Rochester and Stroud, has introduced a nearly identical assisted suicide bill as the Leadbeater bill in order to invoke The Parliament Acts, which allows the House of Commons to forgo approval from the House of Lords when passing two essentially identical bills within consecutive parliamentary sessions.

A similar parliamentary tactic was used in France where the National Assembly passed identical euthanasia bills on June 30 and July 15 that enabled them to ignore the opposition to the euthanasia bill in the Senate, even though France's Senate is elected.

California also legalized assisted suicide in 2015 with a similar tactic.

Concerning California, on August 18, 2015 we wrote:

The assisted suicide lobby has renewed their push to legalize assisted suicide in California after their previous assisted suicide bill, SB 128, was stopped in the Health Committee.

The assisted suicide lobby is taking advantage of the special legislative session called by Governor Jerry Brown to address shortfalls in healthcare funding. The new assisted suicide bill AB 15 is nearly identical to SB 128, but AB 15 will not be heard by the Health Committee.

In other words, SB 128 was stopped in California's Health Committee, then Governor Brown opened a "special session" to examine shortfalls in healthcare funding that included Bill AB 15, an identical assisted suicide bill to SB 128, which passed in the special session and became law.

 

Edwards appears to be using the same playbook that was used recently in France and in 2015 in California.

 

Kill the bill, not the patients. 

Jersey assisted suicide bill receives Royal Assent

The following is a media release from the Care Not Killing Alliance on July 9, 2026.

Care Not Killing deeply disappointed as Jersey’s assisted dying law receives Royal Assent despite ECHR breaches

Campaign group Care Not Killing has expressed deep disappointment following the decision to grant Royal Assent to Jersey’s Assisted Dying (Jersey) Law 2026, making Jersey the first part of the British Isles to legalise assisted dying.

The group believes the legislation breaches the UK’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights — including Article 2 (right to life), Article 9 (freedom of conscience), Article 10 (freedom of expression), Article 11 (freedom of association), and Article 14 (freedom from discrimination) — and that this is precisely why Royal Assent had been held up for so long.

In a legal letter sent to the Attorney General of Jersey and the Ministry of Justice on 21 May 2026, Care Not Killing’s solicitors, Conrathe Gardner LLP, set out a series of concerns about the Law’s compliance with the ECHR. The letter warned that the legislation places vulnerable individuals at “severe risk of loss of life in a way that is discriminatory and impermissible under the ECHR.”

It highlighted that the law fails to adequately test for coercion, duress or undue influence — particularly in the case of disabled people — by relying on “an assessing doctor simply asking the individual if anyone has coerced them.”

The letter also noted that individuals with conditions such as bipolar disorder, depression, and autism face significantly higher rates of suicidal ideation, and that the Law makes no provision to protect them.

Care Not Killing pointed to the well-documented expansion of euthanasia regimes in other jurisdictions — noting that in Canada, one in twenty deaths is now by assisted suicide, and in the Netherlands, 5.4 per cent of all registered deaths are by assisted suicide with uptake increasing by 8 per cent every year.

The group also highlighted that even before the Law was passed, a proposition was tabled to extend it to incurable (non-terminal) conditions, and that Health Minister Tom Binet has stated this amendment will be proposed again in future. The Law also introduces so-called “safe access” zones that could criminalise prayer and sermons in places of worship near where assisted dying takes place, interfering with rights under Articles 9, 10 and 11 of the ECHR.

Dr Gordon Macdonald

Dr Gordon Macdonald commented: 

“This legislation will fundamentally alter health and palliative care on Jersey and put the lives of vulnerable people at risk, exactly as we have seen in those places that have introduced assisted suicide or euthanasia. It fails on a number of fronts, including: lack of legal protections for doctors and nurses who do not want to be involved, protections for the elderly and disabled people at risk of being coerced, will see money taken out of palliative care and has been sold to the public as a way to end suffering when we know from places like Oregon, those who take the death row drugs may suffer long and agonising death from a pulmonary oedema - where their lungs slowly fill up with bodily fluid and the drown in their own secretions.

“Importantly, as our lawyers have pointed out, this law does not comply with the European Convention on Human Rights and is not compatible with the UK’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We will be consulting our lawyers to determine our next steps and how and when this dangerous law can be challenged.”

For media inquiries, please call Alistair Thompson or Team Britannia PR on 07970 162225.

Editors Notes

Care Not Killing was founded as a UK-based alliance of human rights and disability rights organisations, health care and palliative care groups, faith-based organisations groups, and is supported by thousands of concerned individuals.

We have three key aims:

• to promote more and better palliative care;
• to ensure that existing laws against euthanasia and assisted suicide are not weakened or repealed;
• to inform public opinion further against any weakening of the law. 

*As this story is dealing with suicide, please could we ask that you include details about organisations that offer help and support to vulnerable people who might be feeling suicidal such as the Samaritans, CALM or similar - Thank you.*

What should happen to the UK assisted suicide bill?

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Alex Schadenberg

I have been in the UK for several days as I spoke at an international leaders conference and I attended another international conference. 

It has been an interesting experience in the UK with the resignation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Labour Party) and the emergence of Andy Burnham, as his likely successor as the leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister.

The UK is also preparing to once again debate the Kim Leadbeater assisted suicide bill, that died on the order paper in the House of Lords earlier this year. The bill passed, on November 29, 2024 at second reading, in the UK House of Commons, by a vote of 330 to 275.

The House of Lords debated multiple amendments to the Leadbeater bill but the bill was so flawed that the debate (timed-out) before voting on the bill.

All of this happened in-spite of the fact that Prime Minister Starmer was a strong supporter of euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Now, Lauren Edwards, (Labour MP) for Rochester and Strood has promised to bring back the Leadbeater bill. Edwards wants to pass an identical version of the bill to enable parliament to legalize assisted suicide without needing approval from the House of Lords.

If the UK parliament passes an identical bill in two consecutive sessions it can bypass the required support of the House of Lords.

Since the House of Lords uncovered flaws with the assisted suicide bill, it would be ridiculous to approve the bill, in the House of Commons based on procedural rules.

Starmer / Burnham

Considering the multiple parliamentary issues faced in the UK, the most reasonable approach would be that after the Labour Party choose a new leader / Prime Minister, then the new Prime Minister (7th in 10 years) would set the parliamentary agenda with a new speech from the throne.

If another assisted suicide bill is introduced then it would be dealt with in a democratic manner and likely be defeated based on the reality of legalizing assisted suicide.

As for assisted suicide in the UK, last March Scotland defeated their assisted suicide bill by a vote of 69 to 57 even though the same bill had passed by a vote of 70 to 56 at second reading. Members of the Scottish legislature changed their vote after debating the reality of assisted suicide.

The British House of Lords and the Scottish parliament essentially recognized that Canada's experience with euthanasia proves that it is impossible to legalize assisted suicide with effective oversight and without inevitable expansions.

Britain needs to focus on improving care and rejecting killing.

We oppose killing people and support caring for people.

The UK will debate the Leadbeater assisted suicide bill again.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The UK will once again debate the Kim Leadbeater assisted suicide bill, that died on the order paper in the House of Lords earlier this year. The bill originally passed, on November 29, 2024 at second reading, in the UK House of Commons, by a vote of 330 to 275.

The House of Lords debated multiple amendments to the Leadbeater bill. The bill was so flawed that the House of Lords (timed-out) before ever voting on the bill.

Lauren Edwards, (Labour MP) for Rochester and Strood, said she would bring back the Leadbeater bill while members of the governing Labour party are also talking about passing legislation to over-ride the requirement that the House of Lords pass the legislation. 

The BBC news story by Harry Farley stated:

By bringing exactly the same legislation, Edwards is threatening to trigger rarely used powers to override peers' objections should they refuse to pass it again.

Bills usually only become law if both Houses of Parliament agree on its final wording.

But the powers under the Parliament Act, which have only been used seven times in the last century, mean that if MPs pass an identical bill in two consecutive parliamentary sessions, peers cannot block it a second time. 

The Lords can suggest amendments which, if agreed by the Commons, would be added to the bill. But if they do not pass the bill as a whole before the end of the next session - usually in around a year's time - the unamended bill could become law even without their approval.

Dr Gordon MacDonald

Gordon MacDonald, CEO of the Care Not Killing Alliance urged his supporters to help them to fight the dangerous bill:

MPs will vote on the Bill on 11 September. To stop the Bill, we are now planning a summer campaign for which we need to raise an additional £45k to fund summer campaign spending.

The wind is blowing our direction. The House of Lords Leadbeater bill debate identified multiple problems with the language in the bill.

Also, Scotland defeated their assisted suicide bill on March 17, 2026 by a vote of 69 to 57. The Scottish bill originally passed at Second Reading by a vote of 70 to 56. 13 MSP's who originally supported the Scottish bill, at the final vote, changed their vote.

I predict that the British House of Commons vote will be very closer this time and it is likely that the assisted suicide bill will be defeated. 

The Canadian experience with euthanasia is crucial for defeating the UK assisted suicide bill. The UK House of Commons cannot ignore the multiple problematic stories from Canada. Sadly, these stories concern a person who already died by euthanasia, but these stories are changing the assisted suicide debate world-wide.

More articles on this topic:

• Great news. Scotland's assisted suicide bill is rejected (Read). 
• UK assisted suicide bill will likely die in the House of Lords (Read). 
• UK assisted suicide bill makes deception and coercion easier (Read). 
• Disabled House of Lords member harassed for opposing assisted suicide (Read). 
• Strong opposition to assisted suicide during House of Lords debate (Read).

Welsh parliament to vote on assisted suicide bill.

The following message was sent from Care NOT Killing UK.

Gordon Macdonald CEO Care NOT Killing

On February 24, the Welsh Parliament (Senedd) will vote on whether Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill — if passed — would require the Welsh NHS to deliver medically assisted killing.

The Senedd cannot block the Bill outright.

But it can withhold “legislative consent.”

If consent is refused, assisted suicide in Wales would likely be restricted to private providers only — limiting its reach and protecting many vulnerable people from pressure to end their own lives.

While restricted provision is not the outcome we ultimately seek, it would significantly reduce the harm should the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill become law. Countless lives would be saved as assisted suicide wouldn’t become part of routine healthcare. It would also protect thousands of healthcare staff from potentially being indirectly involved in the process.

Wales has rejected assisted suicide before

In October 2024, the Senedd voted against legalising assisted dying: Against: 26
In favour: 19 - Abstentions: 9

Article - Great news: Welsh parliament rejects assisted suicide (Read).

Plaid Cymru’s Delyth Jewell, who voted against, warned:

“My fear with this motion — well, my terror, really — is not so much with how it will begin as with how it will end.”

She expressed concern that people may feel pressured to end their lives because they lack adequate palliative care or fear being a burden. 

Link to Members of the Welsh Senedd (Contact List)

She is right to be concerned.

Hospice UK estimates that 1 in 4 people who could benefit from palliative or end-of-life care do not receive it — around 100,000 people each year.

Without guaranteed access to high-quality care, “choice” can quickly become pressure to succumb to an assisted death.

This time, the vote could go either way.

Tomorrow’s Motion presents MSs with an important opportunity to send a clear signal from Wales to Peers at Westminster that the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill is dangerous and should fall.

Serious Reasons Why the Bill Puts People at Risk:

1. Safeguards Too Weak to Prevent Coercion

(High risk of coercion or undue influence on people who are frail, isolated, disabled, poor, or feel like a burden)

2. Eligibility Will Likely Expand Over Time

(Children, people with a mental illness or disability could eventually be included, as has happened around the world where assisted suicide has been legalised)

3. “Terminal Illness” Defined Too Broadly

(The definition may include conditions that are not inherently fatal—e.g. diabetes)

4. High Court Safeguard Removed

(Replaced with ‘expert’ panels, drastically reducing independent oversight)

5. Doctors Allowed to Suggest Assisted Suicide Unprompted

(In Canada, this has led to patients being repeatedly offered MAID despite insisting they were NOT interested)

6. Depression and Coercion May Go Undetected

(Studies show clinicians frequently miss depression in medically ill patients. Doctors only need to be satisfied “on the balance of probability” that a request is voluntary.)

7. No Clear Protocol for Lethal Drugs

(Drugs are not specified, and evidence from other jurisdictions suggests a potential for distressing deaths)

8. Capacity Safeguards for Disabled People Miss The Point

(How can individuals – e.g. with autism or a mental disorder – truly make a “clear, settled and informed” decision)

9. Conscience Protections for NHS Staff Are Weak

(Although doctors are not compelled to participate directly, they will likely be obliged to refer patients to assisted suicide services, so they will still be involved)

10. Palliative Care Gaps Remain Unaddressed

The Bill comes before improving palliative care services. Without guaranteed access to high-quality end-of-life care, many will feel ‘forced’ to ‘choose’ an assisted death)

11. Hospices Could Be Forced to Facilitate Assisted Death

(They would have no right to refuse to facilitate assisted suicide. Amendments seeking to give institutions an opt-out were rejected. This could mean: Hospices being required to allow assisted deaths on their premises. 

Public funding being threatened if they refuse

In addition, religious institutions may be forced to participate or face severe penalties.

Link to Members of the Welsh Senedd (Contact List)

Defeating the UK assisted suicide bills. Victory is close.

The following is the report from Dr Gordon Macdonald the CEO of Care NOT Killing in the UK, a leading group opposing the legalization of assisted suicide in the UK, Scotland and the British Isles.

Care NOT Killing needs donations to stop assisted suicide legalization in the UK (Donation Link).

Dr Gordon Macdonald

Dr Gordon Macdonald

I am delighted to report that the fruits of many months of campaigning could be about to pay off.

FIRST: England & Wales (Westminster)

Victory is now a real possibility.

Concerns over the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill in the House of Lords are growing.

Peers deserve great credit for refusing to be railroaded into rushing the Bill through the House of Lords.

They are coming under huge pressure from our opponents.

They are being wrongly accused of ‘filibustering’ (a term from US politics to describe deliberately blocking legislation by endless debating so that time runs out and it falls).

In fact, what is being misleadingly cast as blocking tactics is simply Parliamentary due diligence.

As one senior Labour MP put it:

“It [the Leadbeater Bill] only just scraped through the Commons by 23 votes because MPs were told that the Lords would scrutinise it carefully.

And that’s what the Lords are doing, with every debate revealing more holes and more problems with this proposed law.”

In addition, a More in Common poll published last week found fewer than half of those questioned (44%) expressed the belief that the House of Lords is deliberately trying to delay the Bill rather than taking time to go through legitimate concerns.

Experts and professional groups that have opposed or raised significant concerns include:

• The Royal College of Pathologists warned that its members would have to “review the process leading up to the decision to authorise an assisted death and the circumstances of the assisted death, which they are not qualified to do.” That could include probing whether safeguards were followed or if there was coercion, deception or other serious issues at play.
• The Association for Palliative Medicine, representing over 1,300 palliative medicine doctors in the UK, has stated it “opposes any change in the law to license doctors to supply or administer lethal drugs to a patient to enable them to take their own life.”
• The British Geriatrics Society reported that many of its members are “not confident that effective legal safeguards could be developed to protect older people from unwarranted harms.”
• Academics and Barristers: 73 leading academic experts in the fields of health, end-of-life care and the law signed an open letter to MPs warning that the Bill's safeguards are insufficient and would put vulnerable people at risk.

The Academics and Barristers emphasised that the dangers of allowing individual autonomy to trump all other considerations, the letter warned:

“Laws must be concerned for the safety of the whole population, especially the most vulnerable.”

It also noted that “research has shown that a person’s stated wish to die is frequently unstable and depends on the care and support they receive [or lack of]”.

Former President of the Family Division of the High Court, the late Sir James Munby, stated the Bill falls "lamentably short of providing adequate safeguards".

Former Chief Coroner of England and Wales, Thomas Teague KC, has warned that a key provision in the Bill would prevent coroners from routinely investigating assisted deaths as they would other unnatural deaths, potentially allowing cases of coercion to go undetected.

Disability Rights Groups: multiple disability rights organisations have opposed the Bill, citing concerns that it could put pressure on disabled and vulnerable people to end their lives.

The National Down Syndrome Policy Group has warned that every person with Down Syndrome would be eligible for assisted suicide under the Bill.

Illustrating how dangerous a step this would be, a professional who works with people with Down Syndrome warned:

“Years ago, I did a benefit appeal for a client with Down syndrome.

He was so suggestible [that] he agreed with the benefits assessor that he could successfully navigate across town.

I got the same positive answer when I asked if he could fly an aeroplane.”

The list goes on.

As things stand, the Bill is set to run out of time and fall.

It looks unlikely that Peers will have time to debate all the proposed amendments before the current Parliamentary session ends (late April/early May).

When a session ends, any legislation that has not completed its passage through both Houses of Parliament is generally 'lost' and must start from scratch in the new session.

We must guard against complacency

However, it is too soon to celebrate victory, because:

1. Our opponents are threatening to use the Parliament Acts

These allow the House of Commons to bypass the House of Lords should it repeatedly block a public bill. The Bill’s supporters could circumvent the Lords altogether—avoiding its scrutiny—by reintroducing the Leadbeater Bill in the House of Commons at the next session of Parliament (May 2026), then (if it passes) seek Royal Assent without the Lords’ consent.

• This would require MPs to pass the Bill in the same form it last left the Commons. It could include Lords’ changes from this session, but most of the changes currently under discussion (a) won’t be voted on until report stage, and (b) have in any case been rebuffed by Lord Falconer.

2. Disgruntled opponents could push legislation through in other ways

Presently, some are working to weaken the House of Lords’ powers to scrutinise legislation.

• The Observer reported this month that a new All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for “wholesale” House of Lords reform is being set up by pro-assisted suicide MPs Simon Opher and Kit Malthouse.

The new APPG will look at “how a minority of peers have been able to use filibustering to block a bill”.

(FACT CHECK: a firm majority – around two-thirds – of the 160 Peers who spoke or else were represented across two days of the Second Reading debate last September expressed opposition to the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill.)

While APPGs have no official law-making powers, when they are well-funded – as pro-Bill groups tend to be – they can have considerable influence among fellow politicians and feed friendly media outlets propaganda to print and broadcast.

The coming weeks and months will be crucial.

Winning the media war is vital.

We are bracing for media attacks on those Peers who refuse to be bullied into allowing vulnerable people to be abandoned to systematic killing or see the ‘checking and balancing’ role of the House of Lords undermined.

Indeed, former Telegraph and Spectator editor Lord Moore, warned in December that lobbyists working for our opponents are already attempting to influence the debate in Parliament:

“I know very well what happens—how to recognise when we’re being pushed to do a story.

“In the last two weeks, all the British media have been pressed very hard, by lobbyists in favour of this [Leadbeater] Bill, to produce a series of highly contentious arguments which attack anybody who tries to debate this Bill fully.”

SECOND: Scotland (McArthur) Bill

Major question marks also hang over the Scottish assisted suicide bill.

1. With the McArthur bill set to be voted on again on 17th March, just 7 weeks before the Scottish Parliament election, Holyrood proponents of that bill are getting nervous. Many MSPs who have doubts about the bill are worried that this might be an election-defining issue for many of their constituents.
2. The Health Committee at Holyrood wrote to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as important legal questions have arisen as to the Bill’s compatibility with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
3. Provisions for the protection of conscientious objection rights for NHS clinical staff — those who would be tasked with carrying out assisted deaths — will have to be stripped out of the Bill at Stage 3 in March because medical regulation is a power over which Holyrood has no legislative competence.

This could be a major stumbling block for our opponents as the area of employment rights is a matter reserved for the UK Government, whose approval would be required before the Bill could come into force. Already, some MSPs who voted for the bill at Stage 1 are expressing concerns about the conscience protection for medics and nurses being removed from the Bill.

BUT should these legal wrangles be settled in time and the final (Stage 3) vote scheduled for mid-March be lost, the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill would pass.

Should that happen, our opponents would gain valuable political capital for law change south of the border, arguing on ‘equality’ grounds that the people in other parts of Great Britain (including England and Wales) should also be legally entitled to an assisted death.

The best outcome would be for the Scottish bill to be voted down next month.

The final vote is expected to be very close.

A CNK social media campaign targeted at Scottish voters is a major priority.

We urgently need Scots to contact their MSPs to make their concerns over the Bill clear, and with the Scottish elections due in May, there couldn’t be a better time to make their case.

THIRD: Isle of Man

The Isle of Man’s landmark Assisted Dying Bill – the first to be passed in Great Britain – is being held up.

It needs to secure Royal Assent before the end of the current administration (September 2026) before it can come into force.

But this may NOT happen.

Major development

Last year, I wrote to the then-Lord Chancellor & Secretary of State for Justice, Shabana Mahmood, arguing that the Manx Bill contravenes the European Convention on Human Rights.

I pointed out that, should the Lord Chancellor recommend the Bill for Royal Assent (the final stage in a bill becoming law), it may breach the UK’s international obligations.

The Manx bill requires the UK government’s approval before it can receive Royal Assent.

Last week, the island's Chief Minister, Alfred Cannan, announced that the UK Ministry of Justice had asked for clarification on codes of practice to accompany the Manx bill, regarding matters relating to human rights law compliance mentioned in my letter, specifically:

• Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which upholds the ‘right to life’

The MOJ has also asked for clarification about capacity legislation in the Isle of Man. Mr Cannan stated that the Bill “…cannot commence until safeguards, oversight mechanisms and protections are in place…”

If amendments have to be made on the face of the bill, the proposed legislation would need to be debated again by the House of Keys, and considered also by the Legislative Council, the upper chamber of the Manx Parliament (Tynwald). At present, the two Governments are considering a Code of Practice which CNK believes is insufficient to meet the requirements of Article 2.

Care NOT Killing needs donations to stop assisted suicide from being legalized in the UK (Donation Link).

Welsh doctors and nurses urge Senedd to reject assisted dying bill.

Press Release from Odoc Wales

RELEASE DATE: Monday 12th January 2026

RELEASE TIME: IMMEDIATE

Over 250 Doctors and Nurses Urge Senedd to Reject Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Notable signatories include, Dame Hine, Professors Hain, Clarke, A. Finlay, Hope-Gill, Rawlinson, Taubert and over 120 doctors plus nurses, specialist nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, medical managers, radiographers, paramedics and physiologists.

In an open letter, more than 250 healthcare professionals working across Wales have united to express serious concerns about the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. They are calling on Members of the Senedd to reject the forthcoming Legislative Consent Motion scheduled for Tuesday, 20 January.

Despite demanding clinical roles—primarily within NHS Wales—these professionals have coordinated their response to highlight the risks this legislation poses to the future of Welsh healthcare.

Dr Sarah Davies, a respiratory physician in North Wales, stated:

“It is vital that our elected representatives understand that this vote concerns the specific details of this proposed legislation and how it will operate. It is not a general vote on assisted suicide.”

Palliative care physician Dr Victoria Wheatley added:

“Currently, people living in a quarter of Wales cannot access a hospice bed. This means they lack real choice. Funding a state-sponsored suicide service without first ensuring comprehensive palliative care is not the right approach for Wales.”

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Stuart Porter warned:

“There are real concerns that this Bill will undermine Wales’ Suicide Prevention and Self-Harm Delivery Plan (2025–2028). Psychiatrists have repeatedly highlighted that the Mental Capacity Act was never designed for this purpose, and the proposed role for psychiatrists on the panel is not supported by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.”

Former Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dame Deidre Hine, also voiced her opposition, citing the unintended consequences of changing the law and the risks to vulnerable groups such as homeless and disabled individuals.

Professor Hope-Gill raised further concerns about the sweeping Henry VIII powers embedded in the Bill and its reliance on secondary legislation for key operational details. Cross-border implications are significant, with 13,300 Welsh residents registered with GPs in England and over 21,100 English residents registered with GPs in Wales.

The signatories conclude:

“This Bill undermines devolved independence in healthcare and poses unacceptable risks to patient safety and equity. We urge Members of the Senedd to reject legislative consent for this deeply flawed Bill.”

For media inquiries and a pdf copy of the letter and signatories please contact Alistair Thompson of Team Britannia PR on: 07970 162225 or by email: alistair@teambritanniapr.com

ENDS

Editors Notes:

Our Duty of Care is a group of healthcare workers who oppose the intentional killing of patients by assisted suicide or euthanasia.

We are a campaign that is supported and administered by the Care Not Killing Alliance.

*As this story is dealing with suicide, please could we ask that you include details about organisations that offer help and support to vulnerable people who might be feeling suicidal such as the Samaritans, CALM or similar - Thank you.*

Strong opposition to assisted suicide during House of Lords (UK) debate.

The following message was received from the Care Not Killing Alliance (UK).

Dear friends,

Almost two thirds of the 90 speakers in today’s House of Lords Second Reading debate spoke against the Leadbeater Bill, with 85 speeches still to come next Friday (19 September). Many important points came up, but we want to highlight these six.

1. Lord Hacking said his postbag had been almost exclusively opposed to the Bill, and many Peers made a point of thanking those who had written. Lord Rees of Easton (former Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees) added:

“I have been particularly struck by the hand-written letters which have been sent, which speaks about people’s real dedication.”

2. Oxford academic Lord Biggar cited polling commissioned by Care Not Killing:

“Some—typically privileged like us—would have a choice between decent palliative care and assisted suicide. But others—poorer and less white—would have to choose between grievous suffering and killing themselves. That is why two-thirds of the more than 5,000 people polled by Focaldata last November wanted end-of-life care sorted out first before any thought is given to assisted suicide.”

Baroness Bennett claimed “clear and settled” public support for “assisted dying”, but CNK polling also found that public support is in fact fluid, collapsing (to just 11%) after key arguments and evidence are heard. (Read more).

3. Several Peers said that despite supporting the principle, the Bill needed significant amendment. Former Health Minister Lord Bethell was devastating in his assessment:

“Without substantial clarification and reform, it could devastate the NHS and our healthcare system. We must address its fundamental flaws, or this legislation should take pause before it irreparably damages our health system.”

4. As if to illustrate warnings that this bill would be susceptible to extension – a “first step” – Baroness Murphy referred to “the Canada model—a rather wider scheme, which I would have supported strongly… I am content to go through with this Bill as it is, but I am one who would like to see in the future an expansion of eligibility criteria.”

5. The Lords Delegated Powers Committee and Lords Constitution Committee issued significant new reports this week, with barrister Lord Carlile saying of the former: “by the calm standards of that committee, its criticism is excoriating”. 

Key conclusions:

The Bill’s use of “delegated powers… gives sweeping, unspecified and unjustified powers to the Government while removing Parliament’s scrutiny role.”

“It is constitutionally appropriate for the House of Lord to scrutinise the Bill and, if so minded, vote to amend, or reject it.”

6. Given that this bill relies on predicting that someone is within six months of death, Lord Polak hit home when he said he spoke “as someone who was given six months to live 37 years ago.” KC and former MP Baroness Prentis of Banbury’s personal perspective was also very affecting:

“I have recently been diagnosed with aggressive cancer and my treatment starts this week. My prognosis is excellent… But there have been some very low moments in the past few weeks… I ask noble Lords to think hard about me, with all my advantages, feeling like a burden… think about the vulnerable and how easy it is for them to feel that their lives are not worth living.”

Please keep engaging with Peers, and please know that your letters (and emails!) are making a difference.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Gordon MacDonald, Chief Executive.

Daniel Cuffe, Campaign Manager.

Assisted Dying bill (UK) is losing support.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Eleanor Hayward reported for the Times that a poll by Whitestone Insight, a member of the British Polling Council, asked 103 out of 650 MP's how they planned to vote on the Kim Leadbeater assisted suicide bill at final reading.

The bill returns to parliament, from committee, on May 16.

The poll indicated that 42% of the MP's where planning to vote against the assisted suicide bill, 36% supported the bill, while the others were undecided or planning to abstain from the vote.

The Leadbeater assisted suicide bill passed, on November 29, 2024, at second reading by a vote of 330 to 275. This new poll suggests that the vote has shifted.

The Times reported that:

Some MPs have turned against the bill as it has gone through the committee stage, during which the bill lost its requirement for a High Court judge to sign off each assisted dying application. Dozens of MPs are thought to have only backed the bill at its second reading because of this requirement.

Gordon Macdonald

Dr. Gordon Macdonald, the chief executive of Care Not Killing, told the Times that:

“The more MPs hear about assisted suicide and what it entails, the less likely they are to support changing the law.

“Clearly MPs recognise that removing the requirement for every application to be overseen by the High Court — part of a formal judicial process with the duty to consider all views and the power to summon witnesses — makes the bill much less safe, while the rejection of amendments aimed at protecting the most vulnerable people in our society is making many people think again.

“This bill was sold to parliament and to members of the public as being the safest in the world, yet the truth is this bill if it became law would put the lives of vulnerable people at risk, exactly as we see in every jurisdiction that has legalised assisted suicide or euthanasia.”

To gain back support for her assisted suicide bill, Kim Leadbeater recently urged MPs to back an amendment to the assisted dying bill which would commission a new assessment on the state of palliative care, a move first proposed by the bill’s opponents.

Leadbeater doesn't need to amend the bill in order to commission an assessment on the state of palliative care, nonetheless, this is an attempt by her to convince more MP's to support her assisted suicide bill.