Kim Leadbeater plans to introduce an Private Member’s Bill aiming to legalise assisted dying (Image: JOHN MATHER/IMAGE VIEW)
Life is precious. I believe we should all have the right to a good life and, where possible, a good death. We don’t talk about death much in this country, but we need to talk about what a ‘good death’ could or should be.
I think we should all be able to see out our days surrounded by those we love and care for, so that when we are gone they can remember us as we would like to be remembered.
Dame Esther Rantzen calls the current law “a mess”. She’s right. It can also be cruel and unjust, not just to the patients themselves but to their families and loved ones too.
Josh Cook lives near me in West Yorkshire. In June of this year his mum, Lisa, took her own life. She had advanced Huntingdon’s disease and had secretly been keeping back the morphine she was prescribed for the pain so she could take it all at once at the time of her choosing.
Lisa died alone without telling Josh or anyone else because she didn’t want to put them at risk of prosecution.
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Today somebody with a terminal condition and very little time left must choose between suffering in misery and often in great pain as their illness takes their life and dignity from them; travelling to Switzerland – usually alone – if they are wealthy enough to pay for it; or taking matters into their own hands, as Lisa did, and leaving their loved ones to pick up the pieces without having been able to say a proper goodbye. That simply cannot be right.
I have thought long and hard about these issues which I know are very difficult for many people. I completely understand that.
But I’m sure we all want the best for our relatives and those we care for as they come to the end of their lives.
And the evidence from those places around the world where laws like mine already exist is that patients draw great comfort from simply knowing they have the right to choose a better death even if they eventually decide not to exercise it.
My Bill will be very clear about who would be eligible and include strong protections against any form of coercion or abuse.
It will give adults who are already dying and able to express their freely-given consent a better choice in their final days.
It absolutely will not hasten anybody’s death against their will.
I believe passionately that every patient should have access to the best possible palliative care.
I’m also adamant that people with disabilities must be treated equally with all the respect and support they need and deserve to live fulfilling lives. Nothing in my Bill goes against either of these things.
There will be those in Parliament and in the country who disagree with me. They may think the law shouldn’t be changed at all.
Others think my proposals are too restrictive. All those views should be heard and properly debated.
The vote will put a heavy responsibility on MPs and I feel that myself. But to do nothing would also be a decision.
One that would leave too many people, as they near the end, continuing to suffer in often unbearable pain and fear of what is to come, denied the choice and the autonomy they deserve.