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2nd reading of Assisted Dying Bill - 11 September 2026

373 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

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selffellatingouroborosofhate · 17/09/2026 17:20

McSilkson · 17/09/2026 04:47

Your premises are spurious. As for the first, cannibalism is not that uncommon among mammals. Chimpanzees, our closest relatives, have been known to practise it. And it was a traditional practice among numerous indigenous populations, including those of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

As for the second:

"Humans are smarter than other animals. Yes, we've seen startling examples of animal intelligence in unexpected species (the piano-playing octopus), but they aren't designing the Sydney Harbour Bridge. When we choose to take responsibility for caring for a non-human animal, we make decisions within the law for that animal, just as we would for a small child."

Completely disagree. "Intelligence" is subjective. Judging the "intelligence" of other animals by skills and faculties that humans value and compete in, such as piano-playing and bridge-building, but which would have no use to other animals, is setting them up to fail and viewing them through a narrow, anthropocentric worldview. It's a completely rigged game. But, of course, those in power are always the judges of what is "valuable", and of which qualities make some other group "worthy" - or not - of equal consideration.

In an athletic competition between men and women of similar athleticism, women will always fail, because men and women are different, and have different abilities. Many men have used this difference, among others, as justification for their treatment and dominance and "custodianship" of women. Another key long-supposed difference, highly relevant to this discussion, has been "intelligence". And, indeed, according to your examples, women come up short. Far less acclaimed/exceptional piano-playing in women's history, and certainly far less bridge-designing!

Henry Higgins sang, "Why can't a woman be more like a man?" (He also included the age-old tropes about female intelligence.) And all you're really saying is that what is "good" and "valuable" is what humans can do, and that non-humans inevitably can't be or act like a human and are therefore not as good/valuable/"intelligent". It's a circular argument, resting on a presumption of human exceptionalism. In a word, it's speciesism.

Maybe you can play a piano. But can you thread a spider's web? Can you tell the difference between the sounds made in the grass by mice and rats from hundreds of metres away? Can you communicate in bird "song"? Can you paint with all the colours of the wind?

I'll give you your bridges, but non-human animals build dams, hives, ant hills, spider webs, and plenty of other structures of complexity, functionality and "beauty" (again, subjective). And their designs have often been mimicked and incorporated by humans.

The best general working definition of "intelligence" is the ability to perceive and understand and adapt to environments. By that definition, every form of thriving animal life is equally intelligent. In fact, you could argue that humans' "ability" to not only adapt to and shape their environment, but to also go a long way towards destroying that very environment, makes us singularly unintelligent as an animal life form. Have any other animals made environmental conditions so inhospitable for themselves through their own activity?

And I couldn't care less what the law says, per se. Not about non-human animals, and not about anything. Lest we forget on this women's rights board that the law currently holds that a person may "legally" (and, in its view, "morally") change their sex via a Gender Recognition Certificate. Bah! The law is a human creation, designed to promote the interests of the applicable human society, and especially its ruling class. And human society is built on and takes for granted the use and exploitation of non-human animals. We may as well consult human law on the laws of physics and the origin of the universe, for all it has to reveal about the essential nature of non-human animals!

And exactly none of that makes it acceptable to create a legislative framework in which we manufacture people's consent to be killed by other people.

You want a better deal for non-human animals, start your own thread.

Wishesandhorses · 17/09/2026 17:25

Grammarnut · 17/09/2026 12:18

And you think the doctors involved in deciding if assisted suicide is appropriate, and who prescribe the pills, won't be affected by doing this? Doctors already have high rates of drug abuse, burn out. Not sure about suicide statistics for doctors, but apparently vets (who have to kill animals every day) do have high rates. Ordering a human's death is equally traumatising, at the least.

An important point. As in the debate re the death penalty: it would go through on a popular vote. But I'm the grandchild of someone who worked in the court system during the time of the death penalty, and they told me they wanted it gone from law. Not because of concern for the prisoners so much as the huge toll it took on police officers and prison officers who had to be involved, and the suicide rates there.

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 17/09/2026 17:30

ArabellaScott · 17/09/2026 13:44

Medical staff had for years 'helped people along' with high doses of painkillers, fwiw. Shipman largely put an end to that.

I believe that the intent was to ease pain, and if the dose high enough to do so was fatal, then that was a tacitly accepted outcome. See also: the Catholic doctrine of double effect, which allows a woman to take oral contraceptives for dysmenorrhea and enjoy the otherwise-sinful pregnancy inhibiting effects, as long as the intent was to ease her dysmenorrhea.

HomericEpithet · 17/09/2026 17:59

Wishesandhorses · 17/09/2026 17:25

An important point. As in the debate re the death penalty: it would go through on a popular vote. But I'm the grandchild of someone who worked in the court system during the time of the death penalty, and they told me they wanted it gone from law. Not because of concern for the prisoners so much as the huge toll it took on police officers and prison officers who had to be involved, and the suicide rates there.

It also wreaks a toll on the random 12 members of the public making up the jury who have to deliberate upon a guilty/not guilty verdict, knowing that the defendant's life relies on them returning a verdict of not guilty.

Across multiple jurisdictions, retrospective analysis showed that when the death penalty was removed and replaced with a prison sentence, the conviction rate for that crime went up, because jurors are more hesitant to convict if they think the defendant will be killed as a result.

In the US, there was one study (which I now cannot find) where jurors were surveyed after delivering verdicts in murder trials in death penalty states and non-death penalty states, and asked whether they would have made the same decision if the death penalty was removed/introduced, as applicable. In this study, the same pattern was observed of some jurors saying they would have delivered a guilty verdict if the death penalty hadn't existed in their state. The numbers were high enough that this would have changed the result of some trials.

IIRC, there were a couple of unusual jurors who answered that they had delivered a not guilty verdict, but that they would have found the defendant guilty if the death penalty had been in place, but they were outnumbered by those who were made more reluctant to convict by the existence of the death penalty.

McSilkson · 17/09/2026 18:47

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 17/09/2026 17:20

And exactly none of that makes it acceptable to create a legislative framework in which we manufacture people's consent to be killed by other people.

You want a better deal for non-human animals, start your own thread.

I'm entitled to post where I want, in response to comments from other users in THIS thread. Thanks. Comparisons to how other animals are treated are frequently raised in the discussion of euthanasia, so it's highly relevant to the topic.

How exactly is is possible to "manufacture" people's consent...? Assuming those people are compos mentis adults, capable of speech/clear communication of some sort.

If anything, we do "manufacture" the consent of other animals when we decide to euthanise them for our own reasons.

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 17/09/2026 20:24

McSilkson · 17/09/2026 18:47

I'm entitled to post where I want, in response to comments from other users in THIS thread. Thanks. Comparisons to how other animals are treated are frequently raised in the discussion of euthanasia, so it's highly relevant to the topic.

How exactly is is possible to "manufacture" people's consent...? Assuming those people are compos mentis adults, capable of speech/clear communication of some sort.

If anything, we do "manufacture" the consent of other animals when we decide to euthanise them for our own reasons.

Edited

The concept of consent being manufacturable was initially discussed by Noam Chomsky.

The law literally recognises the concept of coercive control in our DV legislation. If you think that coercive control won't be applied to potential euthanasia candidates, then you are on glue.

Fortunately, enough MPs realised the risk of coercive control being applied to secure the premature deaths of vulnerable people to shoot this Bill down.

ArabellaScott · 17/09/2026 20:32

HomericEpithet · 17/09/2026 17:13

Why did the Leadbeater committee vote down the amendment mandating that applicants be informed about side-effects of the drugs used, including pain?

Why did they vote down the amendment mandating that the drugs used must have MHRA approval?

My assumption is that they were arguing on an emotive basis, on the blinkered belief that anyone asking for or administering assisted death/euthanasia is de facto a 'good and deserving' person and therefore any questions or arguments or suggestions that there could be any bad faith or abusive or accidental downsides are Bad People and all arguments that did anything other than bow their heads and chant the catechism of the Right Side of History were therefore null and void.

We saw exactly the same responses during the Scottish GRR Bill, as perfectly sensible amendments like 'rapists shouldn't be put in women's prison' were voted down, and the same with the puberty blocker trial, where people who suggested terms should be clearly defined, or who questioned the value of a one-year trial, were brushed aside.

These bills/projects became articles of faith, to be admired and applauded, misty-eyed. Any inconvenient logical issues were heresy.

I suppose the underlying problem is tribalism and black and white thinking.

ArabellaScott · 17/09/2026 20:33

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 17/09/2026 17:30

I believe that the intent was to ease pain, and if the dose high enough to do so was fatal, then that was a tacitly accepted outcome. See also: the Catholic doctrine of double effect, which allows a woman to take oral contraceptives for dysmenorrhea and enjoy the otherwise-sinful pregnancy inhibiting effects, as long as the intent was to ease her dysmenorrhea.

Edited

Well, not according to medics I've spoken to. The intent was to hasten death.

(sorry, I'm being too literal! 😂but this is what I've been told).

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 17/09/2026 20:45

ArabellaScott · 17/09/2026 20:33

Well, not according to medics I've spoken to. The intent was to hasten death.

(sorry, I'm being too literal! 😂but this is what I've been told).

Edited

Er, yeah, that shouldn't have ever been happening.

lcakethereforeIam · 17/09/2026 21:21

Lord Dawson of Penn, the King's physician, wrote in his diary how he killed George V

At about 11 o'clock it was evident that the last stage might endure for many hours, unknown to the Patient but little comporting with that dignity and serenity which he so richly merited and which demanded a brief final scene. Hours of waiting just for the mechanical end when all that is really life has departed only exhausts the onlookers & keeps them so strained that they cannot avail themselves of the solace of thought, communion or prayer. I therefore decided to determine the end and injected (myself) morphia gr.3/4 and shortly afterwards cocaine gr.1 into the distended jugular vein...In about 1/4 an hour - breathing quieter - appearance more placid - physical struggle gone.

TLDR Well, this is dull. <whistling> There! I was sick of waiting.

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 17/09/2026 21:44

lcakethereforeIam · 17/09/2026 21:21

Lord Dawson of Penn, the King's physician, wrote in his diary how he killed George V

At about 11 o'clock it was evident that the last stage might endure for many hours, unknown to the Patient but little comporting with that dignity and serenity which he so richly merited and which demanded a brief final scene. Hours of waiting just for the mechanical end when all that is really life has departed only exhausts the onlookers & keeps them so strained that they cannot avail themselves of the solace of thought, communion or prayer. I therefore decided to determine the end and injected (myself) morphia gr.3/4 and shortly afterwards cocaine gr.1 into the distended jugular vein...In about 1/4 an hour - breathing quieter - appearance more placid - physical struggle gone.

TLDR Well, this is dull. <whistling> There! I was sick of waiting.

I'm pretty sure that constitutes treason.

AimsAndObjectives · 17/09/2026 21:53

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 17/09/2026 20:45

Er, yeah, that shouldn't have ever been happening.

It absolutely was happening. I have a family member who was a GP in the 1950s to 1980s who told me this. In fact, she nursed her own mother when she was dying and remembers her mother's own GP saying "I think the time has come", and my family member agreed. However, it was done right at the end of someone's life (usually cancer) and not weeks or months earlier.

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 18/09/2026 00:32

AimsAndObjectives · 17/09/2026 21:53

It absolutely was happening. I have a family member who was a GP in the 1950s to 1980s who told me this. In fact, she nursed her own mother when she was dying and remembers her mother's own GP saying "I think the time has come", and my family member agreed. However, it was done right at the end of someone's life (usually cancer) and not weeks or months earlier.

I think there's morally some difference between "a few hours sooner" when the patient is already unconscious or near-unconscious, and "months or weeks sooner", or even, as has happened in Canada, "not expected at any time in the next decade, but this person is inconvenient and we've engineered our society to make their life intolerable".

Legally, there is no difference, and doctors who "helped people over the line" were relying on families turning a blind eye to it. Shipman put an end to that.

As we've seen, it's not easy crafting legislation that allows "a few hours sooner" and "a few weeks sooner" without ending up with Canada.

TempestTost · 18/09/2026 01:29

LipglossAndLies · 14/09/2026 13:06

The Doctors don't because as I said before preservation of life at a costs. Keep people alive that's their oath. Not whether its the right thing to do.

No I don't think that's true at all. I think the vast majority are very realistic about the inevitability of death.

But most don't feel they can push decisions about conservative treatment unless it's initiated by the patient, or the patient seems likely to be well disposed.

And our culture tends to think the right approach is more aggressive, or doesn't know how to ask the right questions about outcomes. So people don't ask the question, what do they want their declining years to look like.

TempestTost · 18/09/2026 01:44

moto748e · 16/09/2026 14:29

Tbf, suicide is not an option for everyone, and does have serious drawbacks; the stigma, insurance and legal issues...

If suicide is valid medical care, I think there are no grounds for insurance impediments. Maybe campaigners could lobby for a law around that?

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 18/09/2026 01:46

TempestTost · 18/09/2026 01:44

If suicide is valid medical care, I think there are no grounds for insurance impediments. Maybe campaigners could lobby for a law around that?

Result: life insurance policies immediately all disappear.

moto748e · 18/09/2026 01:51

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 18/09/2026 01:46

Result: life insurance policies immediately all disappear.

But they won’t, will they? Clauses will be put in, and/or claim adjustments will be made. The life insurance industry isn’t going to disappear overnight.

TempestTost · 18/09/2026 02:34

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 18/09/2026 00:32

I think there's morally some difference between "a few hours sooner" when the patient is already unconscious or near-unconscious, and "months or weeks sooner", or even, as has happened in Canada, "not expected at any time in the next decade, but this person is inconvenient and we've engineered our society to make their life intolerable".

Legally, there is no difference, and doctors who "helped people over the line" were relying on families turning a blind eye to it. Shipman put an end to that.

As we've seen, it's not easy crafting legislation that allows "a few hours sooner" and "a few weeks sooner" without ending up with Canada.

This is why easing pain is actually a really good guideline.

If the patient in the last days or hours isn't uncomfortable, there's no issue. If there is significant discomfort, and the amount of drug required to alleviate that is dangerous, going ahead to relive discomfort is ok, even if risky. That's a very natural way to proceed.

TempestTost · 18/09/2026 02:34

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 18/09/2026 01:46

Result: life insurance policies immediately all disappear.

Probably yes.

TempestTost · 18/09/2026 02:41

moto748e · 18/09/2026 01:51

But they won’t, will they? Clauses will be put in, and/or claim adjustments will be made. The life insurance industry isn’t going to disappear overnight.

If they had to pay out even for suicide I think that might have some pretty significant impacts.

The more logical route to me is they also don't pay out for assisted death. Especially if it becomes as open as many want it to be.

HoppityBun · 18/09/2026 06:37

AimsAndObjectives · 17/09/2026 21:53

It absolutely was happening. I have a family member who was a GP in the 1950s to 1980s who told me this. In fact, she nursed her own mother when she was dying and remembers her mother's own GP saying "I think the time has come", and my family member agreed. However, it was done right at the end of someone's life (usually cancer) and not weeks or months earlier.

It happened then, the most famous instance being George V. Not now, though, because there are more restrictions but also less paternalism. GPS don’t undertake the personal home care that use to bo commonplace

ArabellaScott · 18/09/2026 07:01

TempestTost · 18/09/2026 02:41

If they had to pay out even for suicide I think that might have some pretty significant impacts.

The more logical route to me is they also don't pay out for assisted death. Especially if it becomes as open as many want it to be.

Insurance is actually one point I hadn't even considered. If it were claimable even with assisted dying that would be another incentive and therefore another risk.

I wonder how it works in Canada etc?

AimsAndObjectives · 18/09/2026 09:57

selffellatingouroborosofhate · 18/09/2026 00:32

I think there's morally some difference between "a few hours sooner" when the patient is already unconscious or near-unconscious, and "months or weeks sooner", or even, as has happened in Canada, "not expected at any time in the next decade, but this person is inconvenient and we've engineered our society to make their life intolerable".

Legally, there is no difference, and doctors who "helped people over the line" were relying on families turning a blind eye to it. Shipman put an end to that.

As we've seen, it's not easy crafting legislation that allows "a few hours sooner" and "a few weeks sooner" without ending up with Canada.

I don't think families turned a blind eye to it. It was just The Way Things Were Done, and back then most people would have assumed that Doctor Knows Best.

My family member was devout RC (wouldn't refer for abortions, for example) and so I was struck by the fact that she didn't even try to claim that it was done primarily to relieve pain, with a side effect of death. Her mother was already on morphine for pain. It was an increase in the dose of morphine, primarily to bring forward the unconscious but breathing-distressed patient's death by a few hours. This was before the hospice movement and the leaps in understanding of how to fine control pain relief.

I agree that there is a (huge, IMO) moral differnce between this and assisted dying.

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