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Original poster

2nd reading of Assisted Dying Bill - 11 September 2026

117 replies

IwantToRetire · 04/09/2026 17:50

Write to your MP - Share the MRP polling and ask them to oppose the assisted dying Bill

Despite its many serious flaws being repeatedly exposed in the House of Lords in the previous session and the ongoing warnings of medical Royal Colleges and groups representing vulnerable people, the assisted dying Bill has been reintroduced to Parliament by Lauren Edwards MP.

Assisted death regimes across the world bring with them an inherent risk of grave harm to vulnerable women. The Other Half and other campaigners, academics and experts have highlighted this risk consistently, and it is profoundly frustrating that our concerns have so far fallen on deaf ears, with Lauren Edwards reintroducing essentially the same Bill as the one which failed to pass in the previous parliamentary session.

By introducing a virtually identical Bill, Lauren Edwards has paved the way for the Bill to pass through unamended, and for the Parliament Acts to be used in order to bypass scrutiny from the House of Lords and for the Bill to become law with its flaws intact.

Polling conducted on behalf of The Other Half has shown that the public overwhelmingly does not view this Bill as a priority for MPs, and the new Prime Minister has also been clear that addressing existing failings in palliative and social care should take precedence over any consideration of assisted dying.

There are specific dangers in the Bill, highlighted in the previous parliamentary session, which Lauren Edwards has chosen not to address: these include the removal of coronial investigation, the lack of a requirement for families to be informed about an assisted dying application, and the omission of specific protections for domestic abuse victims/survivors.

Only 12 MPs need to change their minds from how they voted in the previous parliamentary session for the new Bill to fail. We can win and make sure this Bill is thrown out, with your help.

We are asking you to write to your MP to highlight your concerns and ask them to make sure that Lauren Edwards’ new assisted dying Bill is stopped at Second Reading on 11 September.

Every vote will count, and it takes just 60 seconds to contact your MP. Please take action today.

https://www.writeonad.theotherhalf.uk/
(Not sure how effective it is to use a web generated standard letter.)

See more about The Other Half https://theotherhalf.uk/

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2026-27
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-12181/

Write to your MP - Stop the new assisted dying bill

The threat of this bill and the harm it will do to vulnerable women is such that the bill must be voted down at Second Reading on 11 September. The safeguards are inadequate; the bill is not safe.

https://www.writeonad.theotherhalf.uk

OP posts:
TheGrimSmile · 04/09/2026 21:22

I want to have the choice. It's already so restrictive that I cant see it being abused by anyone. Im furious that the Lords have blocked this. It's outrageous.

SlackJawedDisbeliefXY · 04/09/2026 21:21

I would be a lot happier if the government had included this policy in their election manifesto, had some sort of indication of support amongst the general population and were not using an obscure parliamentary process to force the bill through without scrutiny.

I'd also be a lot happier if MP's didn't appear on TV telling us that they are right to push the legislation through because they have a 'mandate from the people', implying that somehow this means they can avoid scrutiny.

So, yes to having a sensible discussion about assisted dying but no to using arcane procedure to bypass the scrutiny of the upper house.

I'm not entirely following the argument that my desire for something that may cause unnecessary loss of life in vulnerable people should trump their right to be protected. Does this mean that we should legalize class A drugs because some people want them so vulnerable people should just suck it up?

CassOle · 04/09/2026 21:18

I have read reports about MAID that have resulted in me seriously questioning the safeguarding. I don't think it is anywhere near robust enough.

CatnipLeaves · 04/09/2026 21:17

I'm worried the bill risks taking away some people's choice to live, if they end up coerced or otherwise feel they ought to go for assisted dying when they don't really want to. That's a worse consequence, for me, than preventing some other people's choice to die.

NotBadConsidering · 04/09/2026 21:15

6ate9 · 04/09/2026 19:27

@IwantToRetire There have always been vulnerable people in society.

I don’t think it’s a good enough reason to stop everyone else from having the choice of assisted dying. (I realise this won’t happen in my lifetime!)

Funnily enough, I think it’s the single most important reason.

I would like the option of assisted dying for myself, but I’d willingly forgo that option if it means there is never a case where a vulnerable person is killed as part of coercion, exploitation, or criminal intent.

6ate9 · 04/09/2026 21:13

SylvanMoon · 04/09/2026 21:03

The alternative (or at least should be done well before we bring in government funded assisted suicide) is to have properly funded palliative care that is evenly available to everyone across the country.

Show quote history

There are not enough nurses to deliver palliative care to everyone who needs it.

6ate9 · 04/09/2026 21:08

CassOle · 04/09/2026 20:59

I think that we need to learn the lessons from MAID (it definitely has issues) and that we need to listen to the concerns of vulnerable people to ensure that there is robust safeguarding in place.

I don't personally like comparing assisted dying and abortion, I think that they are very different things.

Thanks for answering. The law in Canada asks for explicit voluntary consent. There is safeguarding in place.

SylvanMoon · 04/09/2026 21:03

6ate9 · 04/09/2026 20:18

@IwantToRetire What is the alternative?

Many people in the UK suffer at the end of life because the palliative care system is under severe strain and failing to reach everyone who needs it.

The alternative (or at least should be done well before we bring in government funded assisted suicide) is to have properly funded palliative care that is evenly available to everyone across the country.

CassOle · 04/09/2026 20:59

I think that we need to learn the lessons from MAID (it definitely has issues) and that we need to listen to the concerns of vulnerable people to ensure that there is robust safeguarding in place.

I don't personally like comparing assisted dying and abortion, I think that they are very different things.

6ate9 · 04/09/2026 20:50

CassOle · 04/09/2026 20:37

6ate9, please go back and read my previous post, which you quoted and agreed with.

Do you agree then with what I said in my previous post at 20.25?

You said you are pro assisted dying but against the bill as it stands.

CassOle · 04/09/2026 20:37

6ate9, please go back and read my previous post, which you quoted and agreed with.

6ate9 · 04/09/2026 20:25

CassOle · 04/09/2026 20:19

'Clearly you aren't aware that most of those arguing against the Bill in its current form are those with disabilities, and long term illnesses.'

Thank you for saying this IwantToRetire.

But the vulnerable don’t have the right to stop everyone else from wanting it.

Some people are against abortion in the UK. It doesn’t mean they should stop other women having access to one.

CassOle · 04/09/2026 20:19

'Clearly you aren't aware that most of those arguing against the Bill in its current form are those with disabilities, and long term illnesses.'

Thank you for saying this IwantToRetire.

6ate9 · 04/09/2026 20:18

@IwantToRetire What is the alternative?

Many people in the UK suffer at the end of life because the palliative care system is under severe strain and failing to reach everyone who needs it.

Original poster
IwantToRetire · 04/09/2026 20:15

This has an echo of when the Government attempted to bring in self id.

Many thought in some sort of Pollyanna way what harm could it do. Only be taken up by a few people.

But thanks to women's campaign groups, and the at that time very thoughtful contributors on FWR, many of us were made only too aware of what seem a small niche issue was in fact the slippery slope towards something far wider.

Added to which the UK has the opportunity to see how badly this has gone wrong in countries like Canada.

OP posts:
Original poster
IwantToRetire · 04/09/2026 20:05

Bunnyofhope · 04/09/2026 19:55

I am for assisted dying. Very much so. I want this to pass in it's current form and quickly. It is not as if the naysayers have not been given evey opportunity to devise a bill they would prefer or lay out what they would agree with. This cannot be kicked down the road any longer.
People who don't want something don't have the right to prevent others from doing it. I am angry with them and their ableist attitude. It is the unwell, and the disabled who suffer for other people's righteousness.

Clearly you aren't aware that most of those arguing against the Bill in its current form are those with disabilities, and long term illnesses.

And its clearly ridiculous that there has been time for anyone to have brought in a bill.

This Bill is just happened by chance private members bill.

It has not been drawn up by competent people.

So the stupidity of saying some group of people could or could not have done anything.

It is about bad Governance that this badly drawn up bill has got this far.

It is up to the Government to ensure proper safeguards.

But then this is a country where during Coved local GP services agreed or were pressurised to send out DNR notices to elderly patients registered with them irrespective of their health.

And you think you can trust a Government and a national health service that have shown they have no respect for women.

OP posts:
6ate9 · 04/09/2026 20:04

@Bunnyofhope “I want this to pass in it's current form and quickly.”

The current form isn’t broad enough, but it’s a start.

Bunnyofhope · 04/09/2026 19:55

I am for assisted dying. Very much so. I want this to pass in it's current form and quickly. It is not as if the naysayers have not been given evey opportunity to devise a bill they would prefer or lay out what they would agree with. This cannot be kicked down the road any longer.
People who don't want something don't have the right to prevent others from doing it. I am angry with them and their ableist attitude. It is the unwell, and the disabled who suffer for other people's righteousness.

HoppityBun · 04/09/2026 19:53

I’ve read and heard so many devastating accounts of people who have suffered because of terminal illness when they wanted to be able to end their own lives. It clearly just isn’t true that palliative care removes suffering. I would like it for myself before I get to the stage that I’ve seen elderly, frail relatives endure.

crazymommaclub · 04/09/2026 19:47

I’ve watched my mum and dad die painful deaths from cancer. I would have done anything to end their suffering particularly at the end. Anyone who opposes this has clearly not had to witness a loved one’s suffering

6ate9 · 04/09/2026 19:42

seahorsessky · 04/09/2026 19:33

Let's hope otherwise. It's only very recently abortion has been legalised. As a teenager, I remember so many adults arguing it was available on demand, when actually it wasn't.
So if that was legalised (and suicide ceased to be a crime long ago), then how does it make any sense that euthanasia is allowed?
Especially when women (the main carers) now work-who is supposed to look after older relatives who don't want to go in a home/hospital etc?

Show quote history

@seahorsessky “Especially when women (the main carers) now work-who is supposed to look after older relatives who don't want to go in a home/hospital etc?”

This is a problem! We have a massive shortage of carers, women are having to work longer and we have an increasing aging population with more complex health needs than ever before.

Wishesandhorses · 04/09/2026 19:34

CassOle · 04/09/2026 19:09

I am pro assisted dying. I am against this bill as it stands.

Same.

There are absolutely not the right safeguards or considerations in this particular bill.

This is just going to open the door to hell on toast. As with many other badly thought out, rushed and sentiment based bills. Like the GRA for example.

seahorsessky · 04/09/2026 19:33

6ate9 · 04/09/2026 18:01

I would like assisted dying. I would definitely like this for dementia. We should look at the quality of life, not quantity. I realise this will not happen in my lifetime!

Let's hope otherwise. It's only very recently abortion has been legalised. As a teenager, I remember so many adults arguing it was available on demand, when actually it wasn't.
So if that was legalised (and suicide ceased to be a crime long ago), then how does it make any sense that euthanasia is allowed?
Especially when women (the main carers) now work-who is supposed to look after older relatives who don't want to go in a home/hospital etc?

6ate9 · 04/09/2026 19:27

@IwantToRetire There have always been vulnerable people in society.

I don’t think it’s a good enough reason to stop everyone else from having the choice of assisted dying. (I realise this won’t happen in my lifetime!)

AngleofRepose · 04/09/2026 19:26

IwantToRetire · 04/09/2026 19:19

For those who aren't aware and haven't read the earlier threads, the point it not what we all want is some sort of Disney Land. The links are posted in the first post on this thread.

This is about the actual Bill being voted on.

To summarise and others can add to this list

It is a badly worded Bill which started as a Private Members bill
For whatever reasons, laziness, celebrity pressure, sentimentality the Government then took it over
There is also ample evidence from other countries that this is a system that can be easily abused
And for women coercion and lack of status make they vulnerable - that's why the feminist group the Other Half have written about, see links provided in the OP

It isn't about likes, or dislikes. It is about the fact that the Bill is coming forward for a 2nd reading.

And given the very many well argued points made in the previous threads, this seems like bad politics, and media hype possibly creating something that could very soon become a threat to the most vulnerable.

I understand the arguments, and some of them I agree with. However, in any discussion about something this emotive, I think it's impossible not to also discuss "likes" and "dislikes."

I was responding to @6ate9 We can discuss the second reading and we can discuss our feelings about the Bill and the subject. I don't think it's an either/or, but I wouldn't want to derail your thread, so will leave it there. I've said what I wanted to say.