Assisted dying: More and more evidence against new law, says DUP MP

The bill, which could allow those in England and Wales over the age of 18 and with less than six months to live to receive medical assistance to die in England and Wales, was debated today as part of scrutiny as it makes its way through parliament.

Although it wouldn’t apply in Northern Ireland, many both for and against it argue that if it passes at Westminster, it would only be a matter of time before a similar measure appears at Stormont.

Today, MPs voted to ensure that doctors can’t raise the subject of assisted dying with under-18s, which a campaign group against the bill said was a defeat that proves the suggested law is losing momentum, with MPs “increasingly turning against this poorly drafted and extremely dangerous piece of proposed legislation.”

During the debate, Mr Shannon referred to a story in national newspapers about an Australian man diagnosed with cancer and told he had months if not weeks to live, yet three years on is still alive.

Mr Shannon said the man, 53-year-old Stephanus Breytenbach, had come to London while the bill is being debated to tell his story.

The Strangford MP said: “There’s an evidential base that is growing.

“He said he’s never afraid to die, but he does say he’s afraid of the process of dying.”

He pressed Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who introduced the bill, to “acknowledge the evidential base and the importance of this subject, and realise the evidential base against this Bill is growing”.

MPs also voted to ban adverts about assisted dying, and added a clause that means assisted deaths would not be automatically referred to a coroner.

However, a clause that would have meant no doctors could mention it to a patient before than patient specifically asks about it was rejected.

During the debate, Labour MP warned assisted dying could prove “quite attractive” to some vulnerable people during a cost of living crisis.

Rupa Huq told the Commons: “We know that [black, Asian and minority ethnic] communities have lower disposable household income than standard households; you can just imagine relatives in a housing crisis wanting to speed up grandad’s probate to get a foot on the ladder, or Granny or Nani Ma or Dadi Ma even convincing themselves that, ‘look, they’d be better off out of the way given the cost of care’, to get the younger generation on the ladder.”

Admitting that in her younger years she “would have been 100% behind this bill”, she declared she was wary as, she said: “Ten years of being an MP has exposed me to coercion, duress, the millionaire price of London property and elder abuse.”

Dr Gordon Macdonald from campaign group Care Not Killing welcomed the vote to block doctors raising assisted suicide with under-18s, but maintained much of the bill remains “deeply flawed”.

“We have seen how fragile our health care system is, how the hospice movement faces unprecedented pressures, and when up to one in four who would benefit from palliative care can’t access it; that should be the focus of MP’s attention,” he said.