Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Zubir Ahmed and Lauren Edwards

2nd reading
Friday 11th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Lauren Edwards]

No, I will make some progress. We heard difficult stories about patients with bile duct cancer facing the prospect of faecal vomiting as their illness progressed. We listened as Members recounted memories of watching patients bleed to death while conscious, cancer having eaten away at their carotid artery. We felt their frustration when the maximum dose of sedatives could not alleviate the choking and suffocation of someone with peritoneal cancer. Those people deserved choice and a dignified end, too.

[Dr Zubir Ahmed (Glasgow South West) (Lab)]

As a practising surgeon who deals with bile duct cancer, I can reassure my hon. Friend that there is almost never a reason that someone should be in that state, with feculent vomiting, if they were treated appropriately and all the relevant palliative care measures were in place.

[Lauren Edwards]

The position that I take is that we can, and must, both improve palliative care and support assisted dying. We must grasp the opportunity that is in front of us to create a holistic end-of-life care system that will deliver choice and dignity for every single one of our constituents.