Details of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, also known as the assisted dying bill, have been revealed. The proposed legislation for England and Wales, brought by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, specifies that adults wishing to end their own life must have less than six months to live, be mentally competent, and be physically able to take the prescribed medication themselves. MPs will be asked to vote on the bill on 29th November. Report by Jonesia. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00Details of the long-anticipated Terminally Ill Adults End of Life Bill have been revealed.
00:07Also known as the Assisted Dying Bill, it has been brought forward by Labour MP Kim
00:12Leadbeater.
00:13The proposed legislation for England and Wales specifies that anyone who wants to end their
00:18own life must be over 18 and have been registered with a GP for at least 12 months.
00:24To be eligible, adults must also be terminally ill with less than 6 months to live, have
00:30a settled wish to end their lives, be mentally competent, and be physically able to take
00:36the prescribed medication themselves.
00:39Patients would require a sign-off by two doctors and a High Court judge to have their request
00:44approved.
00:45There would also be a maximum prison sentence of 14 years for anyone coercing a person into
00:51ending their own life.
00:52Ms Leadbeater says all of this gives the Bill some of the strictest safeguards in the world.
00:58You'll see from the Bill the layers of safeguards and protections, the number of conversations
01:02you have to have with medical professions, the forms which are at the back of the Bill
01:06you will see have to be signed at various stages during the process.
01:10So constantly, constantly checking that this is absolutely what the person wants to do
01:15is entrenched in the Bill, it's at the heart of the Bill.
01:18High-profile supporters of a change in the law include Dame Esther Ransom, who has terminal
01:23cancer, and revealed last year she had joined Dignitas in Switzerland.
01:28Many other campaigners have been making cases for and against the Bill.
01:32This is a really, really historic moment.
01:35The UK has never seen a Bill like this and we're really positive about it.
01:39We're really hopeful that politicians can come together and support this change in the
01:43law to give people who are suffering that relief at the end of their life.
01:46If the worst happens in terms of my death, there is a way to maybe have there be less
01:53suffering.
01:54That would just bring me comfort in my last days and weeks and it would perhaps enable
01:59me to get a bit more out of that time, knowing that I didn't have that spectre of a horrible
02:06death looming over me.
02:08If this Bill is approved by Parliament, that won't be the end of the argument.
02:11Actually, it will keep coming back once the door is open, to open it more widely and allow
02:16more patients to be eligible.
02:18And that puts more and more vulnerable people at risk.
02:22And the evidence from Canada is quite disturbing in that regard, that poor people, people with
02:27mental health problems, people who are homeless or socially isolated or elderly or disabled
02:33end up being pushed into an assisted suicide because community care simply isn't good enough.
02:37And I don't ever want to be in that position in the UK.
02:41MPs will be asked to vote on the Bill on the 29th of November.
02:45As assisted dying is a matter of conscience, parties will not tell their MPs how to vote.
02:50Senior figures in Zakir Starmer's Cabinet, Wes Streeting and Shabana Mahmood have already
02:55stated their opposition to the Bill.
02:57Although the Prime Minister has previously stated his support for assisted dying legislation,
03:02he has deliberately refused to say whether he will vote for this particular Bill to ensure
03:07the government remains neutral on the issue.
03:10I will not be putting pressure on any MP to vote one way or the other.
03:15I personally will study the details of the Bill which has now been published today.
03:20The proposed legislation applies only to England and Wales, and not to the rest of the UK or
03:25the Crown dependencies.
03:27Scotland has drafted its own Bill.
03:29The Isle of Man's proposals are currently progressing through their Parliament.
03:33And earlier this year, Jersey voted to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults.
03:39It is a deeply sensitive, personal and divisive issue, and politicians in Westminster have
03:44just three weeks to weigh up a plethora of heartbreaking cases and ethical concerns in
03:50one of the most difficult decisions Parliament will face.