Current assisted dying law is 'not fit for purpose' and 'unbelievably cruel'

'I had a moment after the nurses went when I thought maybe I should end it for her, which was a horrible thing to contemplate. Consequently, her suffering when on for four days and four nights' - Warwick Jackson, 63

The MP leading proposals to reform assisted dying laws has says the current legislation as "not fit for purpose".

Advocates for change, including those suffering from terminal illnesses and individuals who have watching loved ones pass away painfully, say the existing laws are "unbelievably cruel". They say that even animals enduring extreme suffering are legally allowed to be euthanised.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater will formally introduce a private member’s bill (PMB) on assisted dying on October 16, with a debate and an initial vote on the matter possible in the coming weeks. On Wednesday afternoon, Ms Leadbeater and campaigners gathered outside the Houses of Parliament before meeting MPs to discuss the proposed bill.

Ms Leadbeater said: "It’s been nearly 10 years since there was a vote in Parliament about the choice at the end of life and, for me, what today is all about is meeting the families who have got lived experience of this really, really important issue, so for their voices to be heard, rather than the politicians’ is really, really important."

"What they show through their stories is that the current law is not fit for purpose. We’ve got a duty as legislators to make robust laws that are fit for society, and at the moment this situation just isn’t," she further argued.

Sophie Blake, 51, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer in May 2022 and given three years to live, is campaigning for a change in the law. As a single parent, Ms Blake said she worries that her 17-year-old daughter would be “traumatised” if she died a “horrible, awful” death. She said: “I think the current law for the terminally ill in England is unbelievably cruel.

“Thousands of people are suffering untreatable pain. I, myself, am allergic to opioids, so pain relievers are not going to work for me, and that’s also incredibly frightening at the end. When you have a terminal illness, your life has already been thrown into utter chaos.

"It’s devastating news to actually get and to have to adapt it for yourself, as well as your family, and to have to navigate and to have to live in fear, on top of that, that we could have a horrible, excruciating death is really, really unfair. As a nation of animal lovers, we never let our pets suffer when it gets to that point. It’s about choice.”

Warwick Jackson, 63, recounted his wife's tragic experience with lung cancer. His wife implored a nurse to "put her out of her misery" during a moment of unbearable struggle. Mr Jackson painfully recalled that his wife subsequently died from suffocation as her cancer encroached upon her lungs. "She suffered right until the end," he said.

"I had a moment after the nurses went when I thought maybe I should end it for her, which was a horrible thing to contemplate. Consequently, her suffering when on for four days and four nights."

Mr Jackson from Shropshire added: "I’ve seen how people should die but this was wrong, this was totally wrong. I didn’t realise people could die like that in this century, I thought we’d moved on from that. You wouldn’t let an animal die like that."

He is actively lobbying MPs to reflect the populace's view, highlighting that Dignity in Dying’s research indicates a substantial public inclination toward assisted dying.

Sir Keir Starmer flagged the subject as a "really important issue" at Prime Minister’s Questions, noting that any legal reform should be "effective". Sir Keir had previously pledged to Dame Esther Rantzen, a terminally ill broadcaster, that there would be debate and vote time carved out for this sensitive topic, satisfied to honour his promise.

This marks the first Commons debate on this matter since 2015 when the proposed bill on assisted dying met its defeat. Detractors of the legislative change argue it could lead to individuals feeling coerced into assisted death against their wishes, while urging better attention to enhanced and equitable provision of palliative care.