Assisted Dying Bill
“A conscience vote I take very seriously” Jess Brown-Fuller, Liberal Democrat MP for Chichester
On Friday 29 November, MPs will vote on the second reading of MP Kim Leadbeater’s Private Member’s Bill, titled ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’. The Bill proposes to allow adults who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided with assistance to end their own life.
If the second reading is successful on Friday, the Bill will then go to The Lords, before it comes back for committee stage, then report stage, before entering third reading and ultimately, Royal Assent. This is therefore the first stage of a long process between the Commons and the Lords.
This is a free vote, meaning MPs have not been given a party voting position and can vote with their conscience. I have had the opportunity to attend multiple events in Parliament with solicitors, clinicians, those working in palliative care and campaigners on both sides of the debate to help form the basis for my decision.
I recognise there are very strong feelings on both sides and I have received letters and emails numbering into their hundreds, often with very personal and emotional stories. I appreciate every person that has taken the time to write to me about the issue and have read them all. I want to be very clear that this is a decision I am not taking lightly and have really grappled with the decision.
I have had experiences in recent years of family members reaching their end of life and receiving palliative care. My Dad passed away in 2021 and was under the care of Macmillan Cancer Support, who managed his pain in his own home, made sure he was comfortable and gave him what I felt was a ‘good death’. I wouldn’t give up our final conversation, two days before he passed away, for anything.
In stark contrast, another close family member passed away last month and did not receive the care that is required to be afforded a good death, which was drawn out, painful and an incredibly traumatic experience for her and for our family. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.
As such, my position is that due to the nature of a Private Member’s Bill, we have seen a lack of scrutiny and too short a proposed debate in the Chamber to discuss the topic. I am minded to support the Bill at this early stage, to give it the opportunity to progress to Committee stage and have the word-by-word scrutiny this affords. I will continue to engage with both sides of the debate and would encourage any constituent who is keen to share their views with me to email jess.brownfuller.mp@parliament.uk. This isn’t the end of the conversation, as if the Bill does progress to committee stage, it will come back to the Commons in Summer next year to have its third reading.
Jess Brown-Fuller, Liberal Democrat MP for Chichester 26/11/24