Assisted Dying Bill [HL]

Baroness Jenkin of Kennington Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 22nd October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con)]

My Lords, every possible argument will be rehearsed today by the 140 speakers, and many passionate and eloquent speeches will be made, showing this House at its best. I know both sides will debate and disagree with courtesy, and with an understanding of the importance of our role.

I believe an assisted dying law is needed in the UK to address the unacceptable suffering of dying people and the lack of protections in the current law. The Assisted Dying Bill—supported, as the noble Baroness said, by 84% of the British public—would enable terminally ill, mentally competent adults in England and Wales to die well and on their own terms, should they choose it. It would provide choice to those who are suffering, even after receiving our world-leading palliative and end-of-life care.

The Bill would place greater protections and upfront safeguards than those that exist in the current law. Laws from around the world, including the United States, Australia and New Zealand, show that choice at the end of life and protection for potentially vulnerable people are not mutually exclusive but key features of a robust assisted dying law.

The current blanket ban on assisted dying does not work well: it thwarts open discussion between dying people, their doctors, and friends and family, forcing some people to suffer unbearably against their wishes or plan other ways to die on their own terms—whether this is an assisted death overseas or a lonely, violent death at home. I know this Bill may go no further today, but I look forward to the day when we have a Bill that does.