Tom Gordon MP has put forward an amendment to the Terminally Ill Adults Bill to reduce the deadline for the Government to introduce assisted dying from four years to three. My Death, My Decision has welcomed the amendment.
The first draft of the Bill set the maximum time the Government could take to implement assisted dying at two years, but during the committee stage this deadline was increased to four years. My Death, My Decision was the only organisation to campaign against the delay at Committee Stage.
No other jurisdiction in the world has taken even close to four years to implement an assisted dying bill.
If selected by the speaker, the amendment would be debated and voted on at Report Stage on 25 April.
Tom Gordon MP, who tabled the amendment, said:
“A three-year deadline for implementation strikes a fair balance between the Government, which has pushed for delays, and Parliament, which voted for a compassionate change to assisted dying.
As the only MP on the Bill committee to oppose extending the deadline to four years, I believe terminally ill people must have a voice in this debate. Any delay risks denying thousands the choice of a dignified death, forcing them to suffer unnecessarily.”
Claire Macdonald, Director of My Death, My Decision said:
“It’s unreasonable that the Government would need four years to set up an assisted dying service. Politicians keep forgetting we are not pioneers in this space. Assisted dying has been legal in many countries for years. We don’t need to develop training and guidance from scratch when it exists extensively in Australia, New Zealand, and many other jurisdictions.
‘Three years is a much better and safer backstop than four and we would support this amendment, however we maintain that the Government should endeavour to implement assisted dying at the earliest opportunity.”
Clare Turner, a mother of two with stage four breast cancer, said:
“This is outrageous for terminally ill people like me. Every delay means more suffering, more people forced to endure unbearable pain against their will. The government needs to stop dragging its feet and act now because the vast majority of the public supports assisted dying. People across the country want this change—so why push it further down the road? We deserve dignity, not delays!”
Notes:
Members of the MDMD team, as well as individuals affected by the current law on assisted dying, are available for interview upon request
For further comment or information, media should contact Nathan Stilwell at nathan.stilwell@mydeath-mydecision.org.uk or phone 07456200033.
Media can use the following press images and videos, as long as they are attributed to “My Death, My Decision”.
My Death, My Decision is a grassroots campaign group that wants the law in England and Wales to allow mentally competent adults who are terminally ill or intolerably suffering from an incurable condition the option of a legal, safe, and compassionate assisted death. With the support of over 3,000 members and supporters, we advocate for an evidence-based law that would balance individual choice alongside robust safeguards and finally give the people of England and Wales choice at the end of their lives.
