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The Labour MP behind the assisted dying legislation has appealed to critics not to flood her bill with amendments before MPs have a chance to make their final verdict.
Kim Leadbeater gave a full and frank interview with The Independent after a bruising first week of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill committee scrutinising the proposal line by line over two sessions.
She said: “What I wouldn’t want to see would be that people do try and put so many amendments in that we don’t end up getting to third reading. But most MPs I’ve spoken to this week understand the parliamentary process.”
Because a private member’s bill is not government legislation, it is vulnerable to being stopped through the parliamentary process. Already progress has been slow, with the 23 MPs on the committee still looking at the first clause when it was hoped they would have already dealt with six.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has argued her proposed changes to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill make it stronger (PA Wire)However, Ms Leadbeater believes it will speed up but admits to “weeks and weeks of hard work ahead”.
She added: “Having the discussions early on the big points, like capacity, which we did, that’s really important, so we need to dedicate sufficient time to it. The bill committee are taking it extremely seriously.”
Ms Leadbeater is acutely aware that while she won the second reading debate, as many as 71 MPs only voted for it to allow the discussion to continue and would hold their final verdict until the third reading final vote in April or May.
She had a flurry of criticism over her biggest change to the proposals of scrapping the safeguard for a High Court judge to hear an application in court and replace it with an expert panel.
“I think with those MPs who have genuine concerns, including me, we’ve got to get it right,” she said.
But she argues her replacement of a commission “is stronger” and means there will likely be two judges involved in the process instead of just one, adding many of her colleagues agree with the change.
MPs backed Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill the first time it came before the Commons, but the legislation still faces a lengthy parliamentary process before it becomes law (PA Wire)She was hit with damaging headlines following the announcement of the amendment. Some 81 MPs – including Ms Leadbeater herself – cited the high court judge hearing as the safeguard which persuaded them to vote for the bill initially, helping give her a majority of 55 on the second reading.
The Spen Valley MP pointed out that some supporters of assisted dying think she is “making the process too difficult” for those seeking to end their lives, and she has resisted attempts to extend the criteria from six months to live to 12.
Addressing other issues being raised by critics, Ms Leadbeater told The Independent that she shared concerns about vulnerable people being coerced. However, she warned current arrangements where people can go to Switzerland to end their lives early with no scrutiny leave the door open for coercion and abuse.
“You’ve got people now who are terminally ill who are taking their own lives,” she explained. “You’ve got people going to Dignitas, and we have no idea whether they’ve been coerced into it.”
One of the biggest battles last week was over a failed amendment to put into law that people needed to be suffering acute pain before being accepted for an assisted death.
Ms Leadbeater said she shares “genuine concerns” about ensuring safeguards are strong (PA Wire)Ms Leadbeater added: “There was a whole host of legal issues around that and who decides what pain is, who decides if you’re avoiding pain. And is this just about pain, or is it about choice and autonomy and dignity.”
Another was over an attempt to raise the threshold of mental capacity.
“There was clear evidence, particularly from the chief medical officer, that we have a really solid piece of legislation on medical capacity that has actually been operating for 20 years,” she said.
Ms Leadbeater has already questioned the need to have lists of diseases or conditions such as diabetes exempt from assisted dying proposals.
“Look at clause two, the definition of terminal illness, the really important terms are, it has to be inevitably progressive and it cannot be reversed by treatment,” she said. “If you stop having treatment or you refuse treatment, that’s very different. It has to be inevitably progressive, and cannot be reversed by treatment.”
People take part in a demonstration at Old Palace Yard in Westminster, London, to oppose the assisted dying bill (PA Wire)Among the complaints she addressed was an apparent imbalance of witnesses to the committee, with far more in favour of assisted dying than against it. This included a row over the Royal College of Psychiatrists who initially were not accepted to come forward.
She pointed out there were “hundreds of potential witnesses” who wanted to speak and it was not possible to hear them all, although all of them have been able to make written submissions.
She “never had a problem” with the Royal College of Psychiatrists, adding “it was just a question of fitting all the witnesses in”.
With MPs on the committee set to plough through the bill again after recess, Ms Leadbeater accepts supporters and opponents “are all coming at this debate with good intentions”.
But she appeals to “let the committee do its job” and then allow MPs “to make their decision on third reading”.
