MPs have voted in favour of an historic bill that would allow some terminally ill patients to end their lives early. Bartholomew Hall reports.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00As a country, we should be ashamed that we haven't passed a law before now.
00:06Why? I believe it's a lack of moral fibre.
00:11Mike Moroney has been campaigning for assisted dying for years.
00:15Following the painful loss of his sister, Mike says he's shocked the UK
00:19doesn't allow people the choice to end their lives early when terminally ill.
00:23However, the fight grew even larger when his wife Pauline was taken into palliative care
00:29as she entered a losing battle with lymphoma.
00:32I just want to die, she said, several times.
00:35And you know, I have some kind of guilt because really I would have loved to have helped her to die.
00:51And that's why I'm so much in favour of a law in this country
00:56which allows people to be medically assisted.
01:00Today, MPs voted for the first time in favour of making assisted dying legal.
01:05It's now set to face many more months of debate and scrutiny on the path to becoming law.
01:11In its current form, the bill sets out a number of requirements
01:14which must be met before someone can end their life early.
01:17That includes for them to be ill enough where they're expected to die within the next six months,
01:22for them to have the mental capacity in order to make the decision,
01:25so free from coercion or pressure,
01:27and for two independent doctors plus a High Court judge to sign off on the final decision.
01:33Mike's MP, Rosie Duffield, announced the night before the debates
01:36that after careful consideration, she would not be supporting the bill.
01:40Very disappointed. I won't say any more.
01:44I'm sorry, Rosie, if you hear this.
01:46I believe this is a lack of moral fibre.
01:49You're not thinking and putting yourself through the thought process for other people
01:55other than your own particular views.
01:58Others, including Sittingbourne and Sheppey representative Kevin McKenna, have been in full support.
02:03I've worked with really compassionate and very skilled, well-trained clinicians
02:08who've been taught to spot coercion. It's fundamental to our practice.
02:12Others have been clear about their concerns.
02:15At the moment, there's a lack of experience in hospitals.
02:20The hospices are under-resourced.
02:22Both are capable of providing excellent services.
02:26Going forward, this could be something that we should consider
02:29and maybe it came too soon into this Parliament as well,
02:35so maybe more discussion, more debates around this.
02:38I'm not convinced in the current legislation it's strong enough to support this bill.
02:45So whilst the debate is far from over, for campaigners like Mike,
02:49today's vote is a welcome step towards more choice when families are faced with the unimaginable.
02:55Bartholomew Hall for KMTV.