Several MPs have tabled a new amendment to Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill to prevent adults under the age of 25 from secretly ending their lives under the Bill.
As the assisted suicide Bill returns to Parliament tomorrow, Labour MP Juliet Campbell has tabled an amendment that would require the next of kin to be informed if an adult under the age of 25 has their application for an assisted death approved. Campbell’s amendment states “where the person to whom the referral relates is under the age of 25”, there is an obligation to inform the person’s “next of kin”.
With no requirement in the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill to inform or involve family, there is nothing in the Bill to prevent assisted suicides taking place in secret in England should it become law.
Conservative MP Rebecca Paul, who is supporting the amendment, registered her concerns around the lack of reference to families in the Bill, saying “The current bill prioritises patient autonomy over everything else, and this can be seen in the absence of references to family and next of kin throughout the Bill”.
“Right now, the first a family may know about the assisted death of their loved one is when they get the call to collect the body. There will be mothers and fathers out there that will get this call about their child if this Bill goes through without improvements to the process and safeguards”.
She said the amendment “will at least help protect young people, especially those with learning disabilities, by ensuring their families are aware before the drugs are administered”.
The issue of family involvement was raised during the Bill’s Committee Stage discussions, when Danny Kruger MP tabled an amendment that would have required that the person seeking an assisted suicide sign a declaration saying they have or have not informed their family of their decision. It was not selected.
During the discussions, Rebecca Paul said “My point is that the family should be listened to and should have a route to legally provide information to the panel. Right now, they have no right to do that”.