There is still a threat that assisted suicide may be legalised. TEMPLATE LETTER (REFERENCES)

There is still a threat that assisted suicide may be legalised. Could you do your bit to help stop it by contacting your MP or contact The House of Lords?

Many MPs voted for it in the hope that the Lords would fix all the safeguarding holes that had been pointed out. But the bill was so appalling that this process has taken a very long time… so long that it (hopefully) looks like it will run out of time in this parliamentary session, meaning the bill is dropped. In a last ditch attempt to keep the bill going, supporters of the bill are calling for the government to take it up as their own bill and invoke the Parliament Act. This would mean the bill passing straight into law in the form that the House of Commons voted for it – i.e. with no further safeguards. From today’s debate that seems unlikely – but we HAVE TO KEEP THE PRESSURE on those with the POWER to legislate!

TEMPLATE LETTER

YOUR DETAILS

DATE

Ref: [Oppose the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill]

Dear [MP or Member of the House of Lords],

As a constituent of [Your address], I am writing to urge you to oppose the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill if it returns to the House of Commons, particularly in the event that proponents invoke the Parliament Act to override the House of Lords.

I am deeply opposed to this legislation, which would establish a state-sponsored suicide service and inflict substantial harm on vulnerable individuals, the healthcare system, and society at large.

The bill, which passed the Commons in November 2024 by a narrow margin of 330 to 275, is currently undergoing scrutiny in the House of Lords. As of today, 30th January 2026, it remains in the committee stage, with debates continuing and facing over 1,200 amendments. This unprecedented volume of amendments reflects widespread concerns about its flaws, including insufficient safeguards against coercion, broad eligibility criteria, and funding uncertainties. Progress has been slow, with only a handful of sitting Fridays left before the parliamentary session ends in May 2026.

Lord Falconer, the bill’s sponsor in the Lords, has acknowledged that it has “absolutely no hope” of passing without a fundamental change in approach and has signalled the potential use of the Parliament Act to force through the original, unamended version. As The Times editorialised, invoking this rarely used mechanism would be “extraordinary and damaging,” reverting to a form lacking critical protections and undermining the Lords’ role in democratic scrutiny.

Our healthcare system is in crisis, with palliative care severely underfunded and inaccessible to many. According to Marie Curie’s Better End of Life Report 2024, 100,000 people die annually without appropriate palliative care, and Hospice UK reports a £77 million deficit in the hospice sector, leading to bed closures and service cuts. Recent updates from the Palliative and End of Life Care Profiles (January 2026) highlight persistent gaps in access, with one in four people not receiving needed care and one in three dying in overwhelming pain. Introducing assisted suicide amid these failures is not compassionate; it risks pressuring the terminally ill to end their lives due to inadequate support or fears of burdening others. Instead, we must invest in palliative care to ensure dignity, pain management, and emotional support.

I urge you to heed palliative care experts like Professor Katherine Sleeman and Professor Mark Taubert.

Professor Katherine Sleeman BSc, MBBS, MRCP, PhD, Laing Galazka Chair in Palliative Care, Honorary Consultant in Palliative Medicine at King’s College London, has warned that the bill lacks robust safeguards, potentially leading to coercion and misjudged capacity, and emphasises that improved palliative services can alleviate suffering without suicide.

Professor Mark Taubert FRCP (Lond; Edin) FRCGP FFMLM FLSW, a palliative care consultant, conscientiously objects to assisted dying, highlighting risks of distressing deaths, ethical shifts in medicine, and difficulties in prognostication. Both advocate abandoning the bill in favour of palliative reforms.

Evidence from other jurisdictions underscores the dangers. In Canada, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) has expanded dramatically since 2016, with cases rising thirteenfold to over 16,000 in 2024 (4% of deaths), including non-terminal conditions, mental illness, and proposals for advance requests and minors. Reports highlight coercion, capacity concerns, and socioeconomic pressures driving requests, with Health Canada accused of manipulating opinion for further expansions.

Similar slippery slopes in Belgium and the Netherlands have seen extensions to psychiatric disorders, dementia, and children, with euthanasia rates at 4-5% of deaths. In Oregon, over 50% cite being a burden as a reason, with complications like prolonged dying (up to 104 hours) and regurgitation.

The bill’s flaws are evident: it lacks protections against family or medical encouragement, even for those with learning disabilities; judicial oversight was replaced by potentially biased panels without witness powers or appeal mechanisms; eligibility includes those not truly dying due to inaccurate six-month prognoses or untreated conditions like eating disorders; no pre-legislative scrutiny, public consultation, or medical engagement occurred; and funding would likely divert from palliative care, as Hospice UK warns. Amendments addressing depression, burden fears, or coercion were rejected in the Commons, and the Lords’ debates reveal unresolved issues.

[add a personal note/experience /reason for objection]

The bill omits easing suffering or pain absence, which I find barbaric. Canada’s MAID trajectory; same-day euthanasia, expansions to any life-choosing death, echoes eugenics, a path the UK must reject.

If this bill returns, especially via the Parliament Act in its unsafe original form, I implore you to vote against it and champion palliative care reforms. This non-manifesto, non-government bill lacks absolute Commons majority and broad support. Please confirm your position, publicly oppose it, press the Prime Minister to reject overrides.

Thank you for considering these concerns. I await your response and actions to safeguard vulnerable lives.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]

References:

  • Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – Parliamentary Bills – UK Parliament. Available at: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3774
  • Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – Hansard – UK Parliament. Available at: https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2026-01-30/debates/2494AD98-6BD7-4B77-B994-AA33CFCA8FFF/TerminallyIllAdults(EndOfLife)Bill
  • Amendment 44: 23 Jan 2026: House of Lords debates – TheyWorkForYou. Available at: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords?id=2026-01-23a.603.0
  • Assisted dying bill: How could the Parliament Act be used? – Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 128 – Hansard Society. Available at: https://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/news/parliament-matters-podcast-e128
  • Assisted dying bill ‘no hope’ of passing unless Lords change approach, warns peer – BBC. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr57j47811yo
  • Baroness Grey-Thompson extracts from Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (23rd January 2026) – Parallel Parliament. Available at: https://parallelparliament.co.uk/lord/baroness-grey-thompson/debate/2026-01-23/lords/lords-chamber/terminally-ill-adults-end-of-life-bill
  • Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – Hansard – UK Parliament. Available at: https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2026-01-16/debates/1F3C9FA2-9F86-467E-B7DA-69D7567AB456/TerminallyIllAdults(EndOfLife)Bill
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  • Letby and Shipman murders show NHS workers ‘cannot be trusted on assisted dying’ [Telegraph (£)]: https://archive.ph/wjfnK
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