Is the assisted-dying bill dead? Scouring the British headlines over the past week, you could be forgiven for thinking as much. The latest source of unrest came on March 25th when a parliamentary committee finished its line-by-line scrutiny of draft legislation that could give certain adults in England and Wales the right to die. During the nine-week process, MPs adopted several consequential amendments, including scrapping an oversight role for a high-court judge and extending the implementation period from two years to four. The latter was enough for the Telegraph, a right-wing newspaper, to declare that it had been dealt a “mortal blow”. The Sunday Times pronounced it “doomed”.
Rumours of the bill’s demise have been greatly exaggerated—largely, unsurprisingly, by its opponents. Advocates agree that the bill looks very different from the one that passed a second reading last November. But they insist this is a strength. Unusually for a private member’s bill, the committee was able to accept written and oral evidence. Expert witnesses suggested that an independent panel of a psychiatrist, a social worker and a senior lawyer would be better at scrutinising applications for signs of coercion than the High Court. Around a fifth of the 150 or so amendments voted through by the committee came from opponents. The changes have only added to a thicket of safeguards, not detracted from them: any law would still be the strictest of its kind in the world.
Two things work against it. The first is that the careful work of the committee has happened largely out of sight of fellow politicians and the public. MPs have been focusing on welfare cuts, the war in Ukraine and tariffs—as have journalists. Running commentaries of the 90 hours of debate have largely been restricted to the Twitter feeds of the most diehard opponents.
The second is the decision to delay the implementation of the bill until 2029, an election year. This could present an opportunity to bury any legislation (the request came from the health department run by Wes Streeting, who opposes it). On March 26th the prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, a supporter of assisted dying, appeared to promise Kim Leadbeater, the bill’s sponsor, that legislation would be implemented if passed by MPs. Yet Ms Leadbeater will have to push the government to ensure that the deadline is a backstop.
Before that, however, the votes of several dozen wavering MPs will decide the fate of the bill. Most seem yet to make up their minds. An impact assessment by the government, due to be published shortly, may solidify opinions. Further amendments can be tabled by MPs before the bill returns to the Commons on April 25th. The battle to convince them resumes. ■
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