Back to Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill, which continues to undergo scrutiny as it makes its passage through parliament. This morning, the bill committee gathered to further discuss the legislation – and, in yet another baffling move, MPs voted by almost two to one against an amendment that would have required a patient to be consulted about palliative care options before undergoing assisted suicide. Good heavens…
The amendment tabled by Labour MP Rachael Maskell requested that the wording of the bill was changed, to say that the patient should have ‘met with a palliative care specialist for the purposes of being informed about the medical and care support options’. The move would have allowed a patient approaching the end of their life to be advised on alternative end-of-life care options, which pro-life charities like Right To Life UK say would ‘have assisted some to live’.
It’s one of the latest questionable decisions – to put it mildly – made by those in favour of the legislation.
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