Policymakers in the U.K. Parliament are considering whether to replace the requirement for a high court judge to adjudicate assisted dying cases with a panel of "experts."
The move, supported by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who fronted the bill, has caused consternation among other MPs and opponents of the impending Terminally Ill (Adults) Bill legislation to introduce assisted dying in the country. The bill, approved last December 2024, will allow "adults who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided with assistance to end their own life," as previously reported by Christian Daily International.
The private member’s bill introduced by Leadbeater passed its second reading with 330 MPs in favor and 275 against in a free vote to introduce assisted dying for terminally ill adults with a life expectancy of no more than six months. The legislation is under review by 23 MPs at a cross-party committee stage and needs approval from the House of Lords to become law.
The original bill pledged that assisted dying would only be allowed following signed permission from a high court judge and two doctors.
However, writing an op-ed on Feb. 10 for the left-leaning British newspaper The Guardian, titled "I’m changing my bill to ensure people have a dignified death - here’s how," Leadbeater revealed that she had received advice from a "wide range of witnesses," including lawyers and medical experts, all of whom supported an alternative of introducing a "multidisciplinary layer of protection."
"What they said to us makes sense," Leadbeater wrote. "So later this week, I’ll be proposing an amendment to create a voluntary assisted dying commission. It would be chaired by a high court judge or a former senior judge, thus retaining the judicial element in my bill.
"The commission would then authorize expert panels to look at every application for an assisted death. Those panels would have a legal chair, but also include a psychiatrist and a social worker, who will bring their own expertise in assessing mental capacity and identifying any risk of coercion. In short, I’m proposing what could be termed ‘Judge Plus.’"
Leadbeater alleged that evidence from "other jurisdictions" that have already introduced assisted dying proves that fears about vulnerable people being persuaded to accept an assisted death have "rarely, if ever, been borne out in practice."
"Family and loved ones are far more likely to try to persuade a person not to do so," added Leadbeater. "But I have promised to do everything I can to ensure my bill has the strongest safeguards anywhere in the world, and this change will meet that promise by making it even more robust than it was already."
Alicia Edmund, head of public policy for the U.K. Evangelical Alliance, wrote on LinkedIn that "angry does not sum up how [I] feel having read this article," referring to a related article in The Guardian about the planned change.
"The bill passed second reading on the mantra it had 'the strongest safeguards in the world,' and ahead of tomorrow's session [in Parliament], those same safeguards have dissolved like a Berocca in water," wrote Edmund.
"Dissenters rise and get louder. The time for silence is over. People’s lives are literally on the line. #notoassisteddying."
In a press release on Feb. 7, Simon Calvert, vice president of rights group The Christian Institute, revealed that he personally witnessed expert witnesses recently giving evidence to MPs for the committee stage of the bill.
He felt unimpressed with the meeting, saying the proceedings were "very rushed" and remained concerned that the experts believed the impending law in its current form would "send the message that feeling like a burden is a valid reason to choose assisted suicide."
"The more this bill is scrutinized, the more obvious it becomes how dangerous it is for the most vulnerable in our society," said Calvert.
"We hope MPs who allowed the bill to proceed, either for more debate or to see if it could be improved, will now realize what’s needed is not a bill to help people commit suicide, but a bill to invest in better, local palliative care right across England and Wales."
The Christian Institute is working with MPs of all parties to persuade them to vote against the bill at its third reading in the House of Commons, which may happen this April.
"We also urge Christians to write to MPs, making them aware of the committee’s deliberations and urging them to vote against this bill," added Calvert.
NHS England states that half a million people die in the country each year and "many live with a life expectancy of less than a year at any one time." This factor will increase as the overall population grows older, with more people dying at an older age.
