Assisted dying bill anniversary sparks gatherings

Lisa Jackson (second from the left) led the gathering of Dignity in Dying volunteers in Worthing

Demonstrations have taken place to thank MPs and call on the House of Lords to "finish the work they started" on the assisted dying bill.

Campaign group Dignity in Dying hosted events in Worthing and Brighton as part of a national day of action to mark a year since the bill got its first "yes" vote in the House of Commons.

The bill was backed by MPs in June and is now in its final stages in the Lords, where peers, who must agree on the wording for it to become law, have been given an extra 10 days to scrutinise it.

However, the bill's opponents include campaign group Care Not Killing, which said any action that sought "to revel in attempts to legalise assisted suicide seems wildly inappropriate".

Approval for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is needed from both the Commons and the Lords before spring when the current session of Parliament ends.

If passed, it would allow adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel, featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist.

In Worthing earlier, Lisa Jackson, whose late husband Graham died with lung cancer in 2021, said she led the "thank you demo" in her home town to remind people "that the fight for us all if we want to have a dignified, painless death is far from over".

She said her husband went into a "very, very difficult phase" two years before he died where he was in "incredible" pain.

"In the final two weeks of his life there was just nothing anybody could do for him.

"You wouldn't treat an animal like this," she said.

Greatest fear

Peers were given an extra 10 days on Wednesday to scrutinise the bill, after a record number of amendments prompted concerns it would run out of time to be passed into law.

The government's chief whip in the Lords, Lord Roy Kennedy, said it was "clear the House needs additional time to scrutinise the Bill" given the high number of amendments, adding that the government was not trying to "prescribe" how the Bill would progress, given its neutral stance.

Dignity in Dying welcomed the additional 10 days, which run to 24 April, 2026, but said it was essential "these additional days serve democracy, not frustrate it".

Critics and opponents of the bill have insisted the legislation requires significant re-drafting to ensure any system properly protects vulnerable people.

However, peers had managed to discuss fewer than 30 of the more than 1,000 amendments lodged after two of the four days reserved for committee stage, when the bill is scrutinised line-by-line.

Meanwhile, Ms Jackson said her greatest fear now was dying in pain.

"The trauma blotted out every single happy memory," she said.

Campaign group Dignity in Dying also held a demonstration in Brighton earlier

Dying with Dignity said its volunteers also met in Brighton on Saturday to "deliver the change our elected MPs and the public overwhelmingly support".

One of those, Alison Kuy, said: "This anniversary shows that momentum is only growing. People in Brighton and Hove want this change and choice and we're urging Parliament to get on with it."

However, Dr Gordon Macdonald, chief executive of Care Not Killing, said the law change "would place huge pressure, real or perceived, on terminally ill, disabled people and those suffering conditions such as clinical depression or having suicidal thoughts".

He added: "We need to care for people who are suffering, not encourage them or provide them with a mechanism to end their lives.

"This is why we champion the extension high quality palliative care to all those who need it and much better support for their families.

"This is the real progressive agenda, and why we argue for care not killing."

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