The tide really has turned against Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill. Opposition to the Bill among MPs is growing; with the vote already on a knife-edge, two more MPs have changed their minds and indicated they will vote against the Bill at Third Reading later this month.
Last November, the Bill passed its Second Reading by 55 votes. If 28 MPs switch their stance, it will be defeated at Third Reading.
Labour MP Markus Campbell-Savours, who voted for the Bill at Second Reading, is now likely to vote against the Bill due to concerns about terminally ill people feeling pressured to end their lives to avoid being a burden.
Campbell-Savours said “I want to see safeguards that will ensure that assisted dying is not overextended to include those in situations where there are alternative ways to improve the quality of their lives”.
“I would also be very concerned if legislation produced a situation where people who considered themselves a burden on their families and friends felt pressured to end their life”.
Labour MP Josh Fenton-Glynn also announced his plans to vote against, having abstained at Second Reading because he “was not convinced the safeguards were strong enough”. Despite being “in favour” of assisted suicide, Fenton-Glynn shared his frustrations about amendments on coercion being blocked, saying “We see quite a few of the amendments which are specifically aimed at stopping coercion being opposed by the supporters of the bill […] I don’t think chances to make the bill safer have been taken”.
In addition to the latest two, a significant number of MPs have already declared their switch to opposing the Bill prior to this month’s Third Reading vote.
Joining Reform’s Lee Anderson and his former colleague Rupert Lowe who publicly declared in February that they would be changing their vote, Liberal Democrat MP Brian Mathew, who initially backed the Bill at Second Reading, has indicated he has changed his mind and will vote against it at Third Reading.
Keep the pressure on! Contact your MP and urge them to vote against the Bill. Vote for Life!