Member's statement: Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Member's statement by Mrs Diane Dodds on .
- MLA
- Mrs Diane Dodds
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 1 April 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4876500
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I want to comment on the latest developments in the legislative process for the assisted suicide Bill at Westminster. Before I do so, I want to make it absolutely clear that the DUP is a pro-life party and finds the Bill abhorrent in all its proposals. Kim Leadbeater, the sponsor of the Bill, has been forced, against her wishes, to table an amendment to extend the implementation period for the Bill to four years, and that could extend the period until after the next general election. The BBC has reported that the Government have concerns about the timelines for the implementation of the Bill. I trust that people will grasp that that demonstrates not only the chaos around the Bill but the magnitude of the issues that are at stake and the changes proposed at Committee Stage. The Labour MP Jess Asato said:
"This last-minute switch demonstrates [again] just how chaotic this whole process has been with substantial last-minute changes to core sections of the Bill."
Bradford West Labour MP, Naz Shah, who was originally supportive of the Bill and served on the Committee scrutinising the Bill, stated this week that the legislation was "fundamentally flawed". The witness list at Committee was 4:1 in favour of the Bill's supporters. Nine lawyers were invited, none of whom opposed the Bill, and eight witnesses from other jurisdictions were all supportive. The changes proposed at Committee to what MPs voted on are highly significant. They include the removal of the High Court judge safeguard; meeting a palliative care specialist in the decision-making process was simply dismissed from the Bill; and there is a potential for change to the National Health Service Act 1946, which would change the life-affirming duties to the commissioning of death services within the NHS. The protection for vulnerable groups, such as people with learning disabilities or Down's syndrome, has been rejected. Doctors, including doctors in hospices, would be expected to include voluntary assisted dying when outlining treatment options. Hospices would be tied to operating the legislation and could not opt out on conscience grounds. Those are all the changes that have been made to the Bill. Concerns that feeling a burden on others could be a motivation for assisted suicide were ignored —
— and coercion remains a significant risk. That is a significant change to the way that we view life in the United Kingdom, — ,
— and I continue to urge people to urge their MPs to vote against the Bill.
415 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Awaiting analysis
This record has not been analysed yet. It is not counted in any total until it has been assessed.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reviews every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.