I do not believe that anyone should be forced to endure terrible suffering that could be prevented

Siân Berry is the MP for Brighton Pavilion and a former co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales.

I have received a very large number of emails, letters and postcards about the End of Life Bill from constituents, and I have been really touched by how many people have told me about their own personal experience of loved ones facing really hard choices at the end of their lives. I believe we need to fix the current law that leaves people making heartbreaking choices all alone and without support.  

Public opinion shows a large majority of people want the option to choose assisted dying if they are diagnosed with an incurable condition that would make their final months or weeks of life unbearably painful or distressing.  

We know that hundreds of people each year who are able to will take this decision into their own hands either by travelling abroad or taking their own lives, and that potentially they will do this sooner than they would if a legal and supportive option were available here.  

The law as it stands too often forces people to seek unregulated, distressing and unsafe alternatives, and I don’t think this is fair or right.  

In addition, the current legal situation makes it a prosecutable offence for anyone to advise or assist someone in this horrible situation. This means people who are terminally ill and suffering must keep secret their plans, make these plans completely alone, and cannot even discuss the action they wish to take with their loved ones or doctors.  

Some of the testimony I have seen from family members and partners who have faced this situation has been genuinely heartbreaking and I want to make sure the new law helps them too.  

Several people have raised concerns about the possibility of coercion with me, but the current legal situation means that, where someone with terminal illness has died unexpectedly, the only way to uncover cases of coercion is through investigation after someone has died, when there may be very little evidence due to the need for secrecy built into the law. So, another reason I support Kim Leadbeater’s Private Members Bill is that it provides a clear way for someone who wishes to choose assisted dying to state their wishes, and for their situation to be examined for any evidence of coercion at several points in the process. Suspicious cases that have not gone through the legal process can be more clearly and fairly investigated too.  

It is also important to me that the proposed assisted dying law would only apply to mentally competent adults, and the proposals ensure that younger people and disabled people without a terminal diagnosis would not be eligible. I do not believe this would be changed by Parliament in future, reflecting the final nature of such legislation in the majority of places where it has been introduced.  

In jurisdictions which have changed the law in the way being proposed, palliative care and other end-of-life options have improved at the same time. I believe this is because more attention is paid to these neglected services, and a more open conversation takes place about what practical problems people face at the end of their lives – something we are not generally comfortable talking about in this country.  

Finally, I also support the Bill for reasons of human rights. I do not believe that anyone should be forced to endure terrible suffering that could be prevented, and I also believe in arguing for increases in resources across society to help everyone to have the freedom to choose what their lives and deaths look like.  

Importantly, if passed on Friday, this is just the start of the process, with the legislation and its complex and sensitive issues to be considered very carefully and in detail by the Commons and the Lords before it finally becomes law. It is crucial that Parliament dedicates the necessary time and attention to hearing from a wide range of voices during the next stage. 

Image credit: UK Parliament – Creative Commons

This article is based on a letter sent by Siân Berry to her constituents.

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