2nd reading of Assisted Dying Bill - 11 September 2026

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!

For me, yes, I agree. I would like that choice. However, many women will disagree with us here, for various reasons, and I think they have some good arguments as well, especially around safeguarding.

But, I wish it were legal in the UK for me to have that choice.

It annoys me that people who disagree with it are taking away our choice.

There will always be risks with assisted dying (like in Canada) but ultimately we should be allowed to have it as an option.

The trouble with saying ‘there will always be risks’ is that the stakes are literally life and death. And how many people are we willing to have die needlessly in order to have our own choice?

@Niminy “And how many people are we willing to have die needlessly in order to have our own choice?”

Who are these people dying needlessly? It would be a choice. No one would be ‘forced’ into it.

It’s about giving people a choice. Plenty of people do want assisted dying. We have a massive shortage of carers in the UK which is only getting worse, and an increasing aging population.

I am with the OP in opposing it, and my MP voted against.

Compared with when the first countries introduced it, we understand more about coercive control, which in reality harms more women than men it appears. I don't want the limited end of life care there is to replace an option with something where people feel almost an obligation.

I also think the provision if introduced in time will be extended.

I often think people are scared of death nowadays. They don’t like thinking about their mortality.

‘No one would be coerced’ - sadly, as all the Riyal Colleges, disabled people’s organisations, domestic abuse campaigners, and loads of others have endlessly pointed out, this bill contains almost no protection against coercion. In my experience of dealing with vulnerable elderly people and their families, it is all to easy to see how coercion could happen.

Independent reviews and testimonies find little to no evidence of widespread, undetected coercion.

Not allowing assisted dying forces people to suffer against their will or travel aboard privately.

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

Same! Adults should have bodily autonomy to choose the manner and timing of their death regardless of a strict six month prognosis.

Only if the Bill does not pass (I don't think it will pass, not in my lifetime). I understand your frustration, and I share it. But it's the curse (and beauty) of living in a democracy. I wouldn't want to live in a country where assisted dying was mandatory either.

I do believe that a lot of people who are against assisted dying (and they are not guaranteed to be the same people who are against the Bill) don't really know what they would do if faced with the choice for themselves. But they worry that too many people would not see it as a choice, and that's fair enough. I have seen too much in my extended family to not want to have that choice.

I know the "quality" of life beyond which I would not want to live. I wouldn't presume to speak for anyone else, but, when we vote (or MPs vote), that's exactly what we are doing. For better or for worse.

@AngleofRepose “I know the "quality" of life beyond which I would not want to live”

I would rather ‘get out while the going is good’!

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.

@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!)

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?

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 “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.

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

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.

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.