Kettering MP Rosie Wrighting on the Assisted Dying Bill

Kettering MP Rosie Wrighting speaks in the parliamentary debate on the Assisted Dying Bill

Transcript

00:00I rise today in support of this incredibly important Bill. Like many colleagues here,

00:08I have been contacted by hundreds of my constituents on both sides of this debate. I have been

00:14moved by their personal stories that bring home the impact that this legislation could

00:19have on them and their families, and I want to put on record thanks to everyone who has

00:25I fundamentally believe in the right to choose at the end of life, and that is what this

00:30Bill is about—giving dying people a choice on how they die. Anyone who does not want

00:36an assisted death can choose not to have one, and anyone who wants the reassurance of an

00:42option has it. My constituents' stories and stories shared today by colleagues across

00:50the House have shown me that it is truly unacceptable to maintain the status quo. Without

00:57a change in the law, terminally ill people will continue to face the end of their life

01:02with a very limited range of options. Some travel abroad to help to die, but it is only

01:09an option for those with the financial means to do so. Choice at the end of life should

01:16not only be an option for those who are financially stable or desperate. Death should be peaceful

01:22and pain-free, and this Bill gives the opportunity to make that a reality. There is no doubt

01:28in my mind that this Bill, so carefully considered by my hon. Friend the Member for Spend Valley,

01:34would be an improvement to the lives and liberties of my constituents and those across the UK

01:39who are terminally ill, and I urge Members across this House to vote for it at a second

01:45reading.

01:48I want to end with the words of one of my constituents, who said,

01:52We have some of the most amazing caregivers in this country who provide compassionate

01:58care in the most difficult of circumstances, and that gives comfort. But I feel no one

02:04should be forced to know how the book ends when they are only part way through it, without

02:09having the choice to put the book down and choose one with a better ending.