The House of Commons will debate a new assisted suicide Bill on September 11
Pro-life politicians and campaigners have said that they hope MPs will “vigorously oppose” a Bill which would legalise assisted suicide for the terminally-ill.
MPs are to debate a new assisted suicide Bill, which will be introduced by Labour MP Rob Marris after he came first in the parliamentary ballot for Private Members Bills.
Fiona Bruce MP, patron of the charity Right to Life said: “I am confident that members of Parliament will vigorously oppose and reject efforts to legalise assisted suicide, as was clearly shown to be the case the last time this was debated at length in the House of Commons, in 2012.
“Such proposals threaten the lives of the frail, elderly and disabled, as evidence from other countries shows, where many choose to take lethal drugs or a lethal injection because they see themselves as an unwanted burden. What is needed is in such circumstances is care, practical help and support, both for the individual – in what is often the most vulnerable of situations – as well as for their family and friends.
“Britain leads the world in palliative care, and this Bill will give an opportunity to press for this to be even better – that will be the most compassionate response to this Bill.”
In the House of Commons today, Fiona Bruce MP aked David Cameron for his views on assisted suicide. The Prime Minister replied: “On this issue I agree very much with my honourable friend, which is: I don’t support the assisted dying proposals that have come out of the other place, I don’t support euthanasia, I know there are imperfections and problems with the current law, but I think these can be dealt with sensitively and sensibly without having a new law that actually brings in euthanasia.
“And as she says, I think the problem is the pressure that is then put on frail elderly people to take a decision that actually they might not want to go ahead with.”
Mr Marris, the MP for Wolverhampton South West, has indicated that his Bill will be “essentially the same” as Lord Falconer’s proposed legislation which passed through the House of Lords last year but ran out of parliamentary time before it could be debated in the House of Commons.
Marris’s position in the ballot means that he will be given significant time to introduce a Bill of his choice in the House of Commons. It will be debated in the Commons on September 11 and will allow people who are terminally ill with less than six months to live the choice to be assisted to end their lives. Two doctors would have to agree, and the decision would then be referred to a High Court judge.
Chris Whitehouse, Trustee of The Right To Life charity, said: “This is a deeply concerning development. The Bill previously promoted by Lord Falconer in the House of Lords and now backed by Rob Marris MP in the House of Commons would put the most vulnerable members of our society, the elderly and the seriously ill, in great jeopardy. The Bill is the complete opposite of what we need. We need to see assisted living, not assisted dying: and that means good palliative medicine, care, compassion and well-trained medical and nursing personnel.
“Coming first place in the ballot means that the Marris Assisted Dying Bill will receive time for a major debate and vote. We must all contact our local MPs to explain just how dangerous this Bill would be if enacted.”