This material was issued by Citizen-Go on 04 April. Reissued here with thanks. Minor edits by Christian Comment. Image, Unsplash.
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You were promised “the strictest protections in the world”. That was a lie. You were misled. MPs were misled.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill has now passed through Committee stage—and it’s emerged more dangerous, more extreme, and more contemptuous of human life than ever before.
More than 300 amendments that sought to protect life and introduce basic safeguards against coercion, abuse, and tragic error were rejected by the one-sided Committee. These included proposals for medical oversight, mental health assessments, and protections for people with learning disabilities. Not only were those protections denied—but some of the few existing barriers to harm were deliberately stripped out.
What remains now is a Bill that has been stripped of even the most basic defences against abuse, tragic error, or coercion:
- No High Court judge approval: MPs were promised that senior judges would oversee every case—offering a vital check against coercion, manipulation and other foul play. But that promise has been broken.
- No psychiatric assessment: Without expert evaluation, there’s nothing to stop a vulnerable person in crisis from making a tragic, irreversible decision. This isn’t compassion—it’s a failure to care.
- No requirement to inform family: Patients can end their lives without telling their loved ones. This cuts families out when they are needed most.
- A stranger can act as your proxy: The Bill allows someone with no real connection to the patient—just “good standing”—to help approve a death. Again, this cuts families out when they are needed most.
- No protection for people with Down’s syndrome or learning disabilities: MPs voted down proposals to offer specific safeguards for those most at risk of medical bias and subtle pressure. These are the very individuals whose lives are already devalued before birth—and now, they could face that same discrimination at the end of life too.
- No in-person consultations required: The entire process can happen remotely, even over a video call. Someone could be approved to die without a doctor ever looking them in the eye. That’s not care—it’s administrative euthanasia.
What was promised as a safe and tightly controlled process has become a rushed, reckless piece of legislation that leaves the vulnerable exposed and unprotected. It offers death without due process, without oversight, and without dignity.
But there is good news. We can defeat this Bill! We need just 28 MPs need to change their vote at the Bill’s Third Reading on 16 May. That’s all it would take to halt this reckless, irreversible shift in the law.
It’s not just what the Bill removes—it’s how carelessly it’s written. The definitions at the heart of this law are dangerously loose and open to interpretation. There is no clear legal standard for what constitutes a “terminal illness” and no requirement for an objective diagnosis. Patients with treatable or manageable conditions could be swept up under this label. Prognoses of life expectancy—especially over six months—are notoriously unreliable, yet they form the entire basis for eligibility.
This is a sloppily written law—rushed through Committee without care, clarity, or caution. It opens the door to fatal errors and irreversible outcomes for people who should have been offered compassion and support instead.
Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill passed through the House of Commons only because many MPs were assured it would include cast-iron safeguards to prevent abuse and coercion. That promise has been broken — and many MPs are now waking up to just how dangerous this lethal Bill is. As such, support is beginning to crumble. MPs are questioning whether they can continue backing a law so clearly stripped of the safeguards they believed were guaranteed. Quiet doubts are growing louder. As more people speak out, that pressure will only build.
What happens over the next few weeks matters. The final vote is expected on 16 May, and MPs need to hear—loudly and clearly—that the public has not given up on protecting life.
Christopher Joyce and the entire CitizenGO team
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More information:
– How Assisted Suicide Will Undo the NHS [Compact | Dan Hitchens]: https://www.compactmag.com/article/how-assisted-suicide-will-destroy-the-nhs/
– The painful truth about assisted suicide—lethal drugs don’t promise dignified deaths [UnHerd (£) | Dan Hitchens]: https://archive.ph/RQApV
– MPs must reject the assisted-dying bill [Spiked | Kevin Yuill]: https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/11/13/mps-must-reject-the-assisted-dying-bill/
– Do not trust the assisted dying bill’s safeguards [UnHerd (£) | Yuan Yi Zhu]: https://archive.ph/oCs4l
– Surely no MP can vote for this assisted dying bill [Spectator (£) | Andrew Tettenborn]: https://archive.ph/KMDur
– Canada offers a cautionary tale on assisted dying [CapX | Dr Ramona Coelho]: https://capx.co/canada-offers-a-cautionary-tale-on-assisted-dying/
– The Terminally Ill Adults bill deserves to die [Spectator (£) | Danny Kruger]: https://archive.ph/h4bDj
– Dying with dignity? The problems with the latest move to legalise assisted suicide [Christian Medical Fellowship | Steve Fouch]: https://www.cmf.org.uk/dying-with-dignity-the-problems-with-the-latest-move-to-legalise-assisted-suicide/
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