Labour peer Lord Falconer to table assisted dying bill

Assisting a suicide is illegal in England and Wales unlike some other European countries

Labour peer Lord Falconer is to table a private members bill that will seek to legalise assisted suicide for the terminally ill in England and Wales.

It is expected that under the bill, mentally-capable adults with less than six months to live would be able to request help to end their lives.

The government has said the issue is a matter of conscience for each MP.

Opponents say changing the law could put vulnerable people under pressure "not to be a burden on others".

Doctor assessment

Under Lord Falconer's bill a patient would have to prove they have the mental capacity to make a voluntary and informed choice, were not being unduly influenced by others and had a "settled intention" about their wish to die.

Before proceeding, their condition would have to be independently assessed by two doctors as well as other healthcare professionals.

They would also have to be informed about alternative treatments and end-of-life care options.

Other safeguards being proposed include guarantees about the storage and transportation of lethal medication, the reporting of assisted deaths and the powers for cases of non-compliance to be investigated.

Lord Falconer said: "The current law which forces some terminally ill people to travel abroad to die or attempt suicide behind closed doors is not fit for purpose.

"This new law will safeguard patients, protect family members and ensure that the medical profession can be involved.

"Furthermore, strictly limited to terminally ill, mentally competent adults, the bill will not result in more people dying, but in fewer people suffering."

Last year a commission chaired by Lord Falconer, the former lord chancellor, concluded that a small number of people felt the extreme suffering caused by their condition could be relieved only by ending their own life or the knowledge they could do so.

Split opinion

The bill is supported by some groups, such as Dignity in Dying. Chief executive Sarah Wootton said: "The experience in jurisdictions which have legalised and regulated some form of assistance to die shows that, in reality, safeguarded assisted dying laws provide transparency in end-of-life decision making and provide both greater choice and protection."

However, it is opposed by others who point to the example of places, such as Oregon in the US, which have legalised assisted suicide. They say relatively low numbers of assisted suicides immediately after the law was changed have subsequently risen.

Campaign group Care Not Killing said: "Any change in the law to allow assisted suicide would inevitably place pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives so as not to be a burden on others.

"These pressures would be particularly acutely felt at a time of economic recession when many families are struggling to make ends meet and health budgets are being slashed, especially when fears about the NHS are actually fuelling support for assisted suicide."

Any change in the law is likely to be strongly opposed by Church of England bishops sitting in the House of Lords, where the bill is expected to have its first detailed debate in the autumn.

The British Medical Association has also rejected calls for it to soften its opposition to assisted dying.

Private members' bills rarely become law unless they are supported by the government of the day.

Assisted suicide is illegal in Northern Ireland. There is no offence of assisted suicide in Scotland, however, depending on the particular facts and circumstances of the case, the law of homicide may apply.

Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.