Commons to debate assisted suicide in November

New assisted suicide legislation will be debated at Westminster before Christmas, it's been confirmed.

A member's Bill by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater will have its Second Reading on 29 November.

The exact details of the Bill will be confirmed next week, when it is officially introduced to parliament.

Last night a Peer taking separate legislation through the Lords said he'd make way for the Commons' Bill.

The news comes as polling found public unease about the prospect of assisted suicide in Britain.

A study by researchers at King's College London found that 20% of adults in England and Wales are opposed.

An additional 17% of respondents indicated that they are unsure what they think about the issue.

Around 60% of respondents said they supported the idea of an "assisted dying" law in the UK.

However, 55% of supporters said they'd change their mind if people had were pressured to die.

And 48% of supporters said they'd change their mind if people ended their lives due to a lack of care.

CARE's CEO Ross Hendry has urged parliamentarians not to change the law.

Mr Hendry said:

“Polling carried out over the summer found that fewer than half of 18-24-year-olds in the UK support legalising assisted suicide. In addition, 56 per cent fear it would lead to a culture where suicide becomes more normalised, and 43 per cent fear that some patients would feel pressure to end their lives because of healthcare inequality. The issue is not straightforward. Whether people believe doctors participating in patients’ suicides is permissible or not, they fear negative consequences.

“People on both sides of the debate are motivated by a right desire to see their loved ones have a ‘good death’. We regret that much of the public rhetoric around this issue does not make the reality of the process transparent. Assisted suicide is medically dangerous and ethically unsound. It compounds the suffering of patients and their loved ones. When people understand more about what’s involved and read evidence of abuses and expansion of laws their views can shift quite radically.”

Mr Hendry added:

“The moral framework that underpins our approach to healthcare in the UK is based on the Christian belief that human beings, made in God’s image, are endowed with inherent dignity, and worthy of strong protection. And that a person’s value is not diminished by an illness or any other factor. Involving doctors in the suicides of some people sends a regressive message that some lives are not worth living. The dangers of endorsing this idea are clear and were underlined in past parliamentary debates.

CARE is urging Christians to write to MPs and ask them to oppose assisted suicide when it comes up for debate. To find out how you contact your MP, visit the Write To Them website.