Marie Tidball MP sits on the Committee for the Terminally Ill Adults Bill, known as the Assisted Dying Bill, which has spent three days listening to evidence from over 50 experts, in preparation to begin line-by-line scrutiny of the Bill.
During the evidence sessions, Marie asked a number of questions to the experts on important aspects of the Bill including how we can create the safeguards needed to protect disabled individuals, how decisions will be made, and improving palliative care. These experts included individuals and organisations from countries where a similar law is already in place, as well as specialists from palliative care, medicine, and the disability community.
The Assisted Dying Bill passed its Second Reading in the House of Commons in November, and has now moved on to Committee Stage. The role of the Committee is to hear from expert witnesses, and then examine the bill line by line, ensuring that every detail is debated and refined. Members of the Committee, including Marie, will be voting on amendments and new clauses to strengthen the Bill.
During Second Reading, Dr Tidball made a powerful speech, reflecting on many constituents’ tragic stories of death, which were without dignity or respect. The MP also recounted her own experience as a child in Sheffield Children’s Hospital, feeling so much pain from body plaster that she told her parents she wanted to die. During the speech, she reflected on how “that moment also gave me a glimpse of how I would want to live my death: just as I have lived my life, empowered by choices available to me; living that death with dignity and respect, and having the comfort of knowing that I might have control over that very difficult time. For so often, control is taken away from disabled people in all sorts of circumstances.”
Marie’s speech also identified changes needed to strengthen the Bill further, including protections against coercion, improvements to palliative care, and training for medical practioners. She is working in Committee with cross-party colleagues to put these extra safeguards in place.
Marie Tidball MP, Member of Parliament for Penistone and Stocksbridge, said:
“This process has been the most cross-party deliberative process of any Bill in a generation. If the Bill becomes law, it will include the strongest safeguards in the world.
I look forward to continuing to work with cross-party colleagues on the Committee to include changes suggested by experts to the Bill, making it as clear and effective as possible. It’s a complex and emotive topic, but one that deserves our full attention and care before it goes back to Parliament for the third reading.
Nearly 500 constituents have written to me about this issue, and I’m working hard to make sure that challenges, concerns, and unintended consequences are addressed properly in the Bill.
The Terminally Ill Adults Bill is about control and choice at the end of life, giving people the dignity they deserve. The proposed law includes incredibly strict safeguards to protect disabled people, and is clear that it’s restricted to mentally competent adults who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and only six months left to live. Involving the voices of disabled people in the implementation and long-term impact of the Bill, is incredibly important, and something I’ll be championing as the Bill progresses in the weeks ahead.”
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