MPs vote in favour of assisted dying bill

ODN

MPs have voted in favour of the assisted dying bill which will legalise the right for terminally ill people in England and Wales to end their own life with medical assistance. In a historic vote on Friday, MPs voted 314 to 291 in favour of the bill, backing the right for adults with less than six months to live to choose to end their own lives. Report by Jonesia. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

Transcript

00:00Kill the bill, not the ill. Kill the bill, not the ill.

00:04Our freedom, our choice, listen to our voice.

00:09A last-ditch attempt outside parliaments before MPs vote on an issue, literally, of life and death.

00:15Campaigners here will tell you deeply affecting stories, both for and against assisted dying.

00:21I'm here because I'm here supporting my mum and dad in the decision that they want for their life.

00:26And I think everybody has a choice in their life, or whatever way they want to go,

00:30and they should have a choice in their death as well.

00:32It's called assisted dying bill, but it's really assisted suicide.

00:36And I just think we need to stand up and say it's just not right.

00:39Labour MP Kim Leadbeater introduced the terminally ill adults end of life bill back in October,

00:45and it passed its second reading in the Commons in November.

00:49Today, she opened the debate for the third reading.

00:52It is not often we are asked to wrestle with issues of morality, ethics and humanity.

00:57But with great privilege of this job comes great responsibility,

01:01and never more so than at a time like this.

01:03The bill would allow assisted dying for some terminally ill adults with fewer than six months to live.

01:09It would require approval from two doctors and a three-member panel,

01:13including a social worker, a senior legal figure and a psychiatrist.

01:17MPs had a free vote on this bill, so their conscience, rather than their party, influenced their decision.

01:24Vote trackers suggested enough members would vote for the bill to pass,

01:28but many in the chamber raised concerns with the proposed legislation.

01:32Why are the vast majority of palliative care doctors, geriatricians and groups representing people with disabilities,

01:40eating disorders and domestic violence, all in opposition, not to this principle, but to this bill?

01:45It will change forever, that relationship of trust between the GP and the patient,

01:50in a negative way that will never change ever again.

01:53We know that there will be circumstances where assisted dying will be on a statutory basis,

02:00and provision of palliative care will not.

02:03That hospices are underfunded, and that they do not have the same ability to serve patients.

02:08So I do gently question whether we are in a position today to make a judgment

02:11that patients truly would have a choice at end of life.

02:15Order.

02:16This was one of the most consequential decisions these MPs will ever face.

02:20The eyes to the right, 314.

02:24The nose to the left, 291.

02:29Which was reflected in the silence that greeted the narrow result.

02:33A majority of just 23 in favour.

02:36Barry's first wife, Sheila, suffered a painful death after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

02:41He is now facing terminal cancer himself, and is in favour of the bill,

02:46whilst his second wife, Irene, is against.

02:49Let's worry now about trying to make it as safe as possible,

02:53so that there aren't people coerced and, you know, inheritances looked at and all that sort of thing.

03:00Let's get the safeguards now in place,

03:03um, to make it so that everyone is comfortable,

03:08not just us who voted for it.

03:10You see the person that's there in front of you.

03:12You don't know what they're like as a normal person.

03:16They're in pain.

03:17They're ill.

03:18That's not the real person, is it?

03:20Um, and you're getting a doctor in and a judge and what have you.

03:24How will they be able to make a decision for somebody?

03:27I can't see how that's going to work.

03:29Whether for or against the bill,

03:32many accept its primary motivation to ease suffering.

03:35There's been no lack of compassion on either side.

03:38There remain concerns, though, over coercion of the vulnerable

03:41and whether the focus has shifted away from dignity in life to dignity in death.

03:46The bill will now move on to the House of Lords to face further scrutiny.

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