On 30 November 2024 The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was taken to parliament to be voted on by MP's. Unsurprisingly there has been a lot of media coverage pertaining stories and comment in favour of the bill as well as opposing it. However you feel about the bill, the topic is naturally an extremely emotive one and may create feelings and thoughts, for you as a carer, that are difficult to process or manage. There are local carers services on hand to provide you with support if needed.
What has happened so far?
With a majority of 55 (330 to 275) MPs voted in support of the bill which would allow terminally ill adults expected to die within six months to seek help to end their own life. Within this article we will touch upon arguments from both sides and outline what this will mean as we care for our loved ones in the future.
However, the bill is not a law (or act), meaning nothing changes yet. There are 12 stages to a law being passed, the bill must go through specific processes within the House of Commons, the House of Lords and obtain Royal Assent. So, this is by no means a done deal. You can see the bill’s progress on the UK Parliament website. Currently only the first two stages of five in the house of commons are complete.
What are the key arguments?
- The bill states that it is only relevant to people who are expected to die within six months. The significant problem with this is that it is extremely difficult to determine prognosis and is fundamentally an imprecise process where clinicians and doctors take into account variable factors.
- We know that many people who are terminally ill already feel like they are a burden on their family, friends or society. If assisted dying becomes a norm, then this could exacerbate these feelings and lead to requests for premature assisted deaths as terminally ill individuals put perceived impacts to family, friends along with wider societal norms ahead of their own wishes.
- Many are also concerned with the potential for others to put pressure on the individual to request assisted dying as a means to their own ends. The bill addresses this by stating that anyone who coerces or puts pressure on someone to have an assisted death will be liable to up to 14 years in prison. However, this is not something that would be necessarily easy to detect as individuals being coerced are generally unaware it is happening to them.
- People in favour of the bill are arguing what they define as 'pro-choice' and refer to individuals in extreme pain being kept a live with no quality of life and verbally asking for help to end their own life.
- It is also suggested that if we invest in top-of-the-range palliative care there would be no need for such a bill as those who need it would have access to suitable care to meet their needs. As there are currently an estimated 250-300 people a day dying without receiving the palliative care, they need due to the postcode lottery of appropriately funded care. The counter argument to this is that even the best palliative care cannot eliminate pain and provide quality of life.
What next?
If you would like to share your thoughts and views on this bill and get involved in the campaign (whether you are in support of the bill or not) you could start by writing to your MP.
We recognise that this is not an easy subject to discuss and one that can stir conflicting emotions especially for those of us caring for a loved one who is terminally ill. It is therefore important to take care of yourself whether its engaging with local support to talk about your feelings and thoughts or to get involved in activities and provide opportunities for escapism.
Let’s support each other through these difficult conversations and where appropriate make our voices heard as this bill will impact us all.
