The Labour MP behind the UK’s proposed assisted dying legislation has asked critics not to kill her historic plans.
Kim Leadbeater admitted she had done “weeks and weeks” of work after fury erupted over her changes to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
But the Labour MP warned terminally ill people are “taking their own lives” and urged politicians not to table “so many amendments… that we don’t end up getting to third reading”.
Ms Leadbeater had said in November the bill would be the strictest in the world with all applications approved by a High Court judge.
But after she “listened carefully” to expert evidence, she agreed for a special panel to consider assisted deaths instead. It followed concerns about the pressure on judicial resources if each case went to the High Court.
Labour MP Ms Leadbeater said: “What I wouldn’t want to see would be that people do try and put so many amendments in that we don’t end up getting to third reading,” she said.
“But most MPs I’ve spoken to this week understand the parliamentary process.”
A committee of 23 MPs is undertaking line-by-line scrutiny of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill before it returns to the House of Commons, most likely towards the end of April, for further debate and a vote.
Parliamentary process allows amendments to be made throughout a Bill’s passage, provided they do not deal with sections of legislation that have already been discussed.
The Labour MP also warned that situations where people go abroad to end their lives with no scrutiny leave the door open for unethical situations.
“You’ve got people now who are terminally ill who are taking their own lives,” she explained.
“You’ve got people going to Dignitas, and we have no idea whether they’ve been coerced into it.”
Ms Leadbeater weathered a storm last week over proposed changes that would scrap requirements for a high court judge to hear an application in court, instead replacing it with a panel of experts.
“I think with those MPs who have genuine concerns, including me, we’ve got to get it right,” she said.
The amendments this week would bring in a review panel, including a psychiatrist, a social worker and an expert such as a KC, Court of Appeal or High Court judge.
The Express and Dame Esther Rantzen have backed the legalisation of assisted dying in our Give Us Our Last Rights campaign.
Labour opponents of the assisted dying Bill have said scrutiny of the legislation “feels chaotic” following the announcement of a major change to the proposals before Parliament.
Ms Leadbeater announced last week she will bring forward amendments that would replace a High Court judge’s oversight of the process with an expert panel including psychiatrists and social workers.
The MP said the move would strengthen the legislation following concerns expressed during expert evidence sessions last month.
But in a statement issued last week, 10 of her Labour colleagues said the “promise of High Court scrutiny of each application for assisted dying” had been a central part of Ms Leadbeater’s pitch to MPs at the end of last year.
The group, all of whom voted against the Bill when it first came before the Commons in November, said: “Supporters of the Bill insisted that it was a key part of the protections for vulnerable and marginalised people.
“Yet despite repeated assurances until just days ago the proponents of the Bill have changed their argument – and fundamentally changed the Bill.
“All MPs have an important job to do to make sure that the assisted dying Bill is fit for purpose. Yet the process feels chaotic, with the Bill changing significantly from what was presented to Parliament at second reading.”
Senior Labour MPs Florence Eshalomi and Dame Meg Hillier put their names to the statement, alongside Antonia Bance, Jess Asato, James Frith, Paulette Hamilton, Adam Jogee, David Smith, Yasmin Qureshi and Melanie Ward.
