BRITISH ISLES 
The move to assisted dying laws

Guest article by Trevor Moore*

Much has changed in a year. In last year’s piece I reported that England & Wales lagged behind other parts of the British Isles in any move to introduce an assisted dying law and how the Isle of Man, Jersey and Scotland were all progressing to introduce laws, possibly by the end of this year or early next.

Isle of Man, Jersey and Scotland

Looked at right now, the Isle of Man looks like being the first of those three jurisdictions to complete the legislative process by about June 2025. Scotland won’t have a first vote on its Bill until about Easter and Jersey’s process has become protracted following further scrutiny.

As things stand, the different proposed eligibility criteria for medical help to die are as follows:

- Isle of Man – terminally ill people with twelve months or fewer to live

- Jersey – terminally ill people with six months or fewer to live, except that for those with neurodegenerative conditions, the period is twelve months

- Scotland – terminally ill people, without any particular life expectancy prediction

Timing of the legislative process remains unclear in each case and it remains speculative as to whether the above criteria will remain unaltered as the legislation passes through the respective parliaments.

England and Wales

In February the Health and Social Care Committee reported on its assisted dying inquiry, mentioned last year (HSCC Report on Assisted Dying). It did not contain any recommendations, but it received written and oral evidence from UK end-of-life-choice campaigning organisation, of course, as well as from numerous international experts and practitioners. One of its most publicised conclusions, given the vocal opposition here to assisted dying by the palliative care sector, was that:

“In the evidence we received, we did not see any indications of palliative and end-of-life care deteriorating in quality or provision following the introduction [of assisted dying]; indeed the introduction of [assisted dying] has been linked with an improvement in palliative care in several jurisdictions.”

The unexpected general election in July accelerated the potential for legislative proposals to come forward, because it gave MPs the opportunity in the new Parliament of putting their names in a ballot to choose a so-called Private Member’s Bill. Fortunately, the MP Kim Leadbeater was drawn first in the ballot and decided to propose a Bill on assisted dying – the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

As the title of the Bill suggests, its scope will be limited to terminally ill people – most likely to be clarified in the Bill as meaning those who have the diagnosis of an illness which will inevitably lead to an early death. At the time of writing** it is not known whether there will be an applicable life expectancy time period, such as six months or twelve months. Whatever it eventually says, it is narrower than the scope of My Death, My Decision’s campaign, which seeks a law for those who are suffering unbearably from incurable conditions, such as Parkinson’s or Multiple Sclerosis, but are not necessarily terminally ill.

The new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, spoke in a live radio interview of his personal support for the introduction of assisted dying. There has also been considerable media coverage of support from well-known figures like the journalist and campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen, who is regarded here as a ‘national treasure’, and many more. However, any vote on the subject will be a free vote, not party political, so no assumptions can be made about which way a member of parliament will vote just by seeing which Party they belong to.

If the Bill is to become law, a stage on its critical path is its so-called ‘second reading’ in the House of Commons on 29th November. With several hundred new members of parliament, no-one can be sure how that vote will unfold. If it is not voted through, that will end the prospect of an assisted dying law for England and Wales for many years.

Northern Ireland

For the time being, Northern Ireland has its own powers to legislate on assisted dying. The political reasons why this could change are too complex to report here. My Death, My Decision now has a group in Northern Ireland that is campaigning for a citizens’ convention on assisted dying, but a law itself is some way off. If, however, the Republic of Ireland implements a law (currently in the early stages), citizens of Northern Ireland would be able to travel there to take advantage of it in asking for help to die, because of protocols that exist between the two jurisdictions.

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*Trevor Moore is Chair of My Death, My Decision, a grassroots campaign group that wants the law in England and Wales to allow those who are terminally ill or intolerably suffering the option of a legal, safe, and compassionate assisted death.

**The article was written in mid-October 2024; in the meantime, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has been published; it does in fact restrict access to assisted dying to persons with an estimated life expectancy of no more than six months.

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