{"id":145372,"date":"2025-10-29T14:23:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T14:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2025\/11\/11\/www.politics.co.uk\/?post_type=press-release&p=145372"},"modified":"2025-11-11T08:15:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T08:15:20","slug":"terminally-ill-adults-select-committee-wont-hear-from-the-terminally-ill","status":"publish","type":"press-release","link":"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/opinion-former\/press-release\/2025\/10\/29\/terminally-ill-adults-select-committee-wont-hear-from-the-terminally-ill\/","title":{"rendered":"Terminally Ill Adults Select Committee won\u2019t hear from the terminally ill"},"content":{"rendered":"

The House of Lords Select Committee for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has just announced its final oral witnesses, and it will not hear from terminally ill individuals or those who have assisted loved ones to die. Clare Turner, a terminally ill person, and Louise Shackleton, who accompanied her husband to Switzerland for an assisted death, have deemed this omission \u2018outrageous\u2019. Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision say this is an unbelievable omission that completely undermines the Committee\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

It has been reported that the Committee is weighted against assisted dying<\/a>, with more opponents of legislation change than supporters. Analysis by Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision suggests that the experts so far called to give evidence consist overwhelmingly of those opposed to assisted dying. Apart from the Bill sponsors and ministers, those called to give evidence consist of three people supportive of assisted dying, nine against, and 20 neutral.<\/p>\n

Louise Shackleton<\/a>, who was investigated for 10 months for accompanying her husband, Anthony, to Switzerland for an assisted death, said:<\/p>\n

\u2018This is outrageous. I was investigated by the police for holding my husband\u2019s hand as he died in Switzerland. Now the Lords won\u2019t even hold space to hear from people like me. The law criminalised our love, and now the Lords Committee has silenced our evidence.<\/p>\n

\u2018The state forced me to fly thousands of miles with my dying husband, Anthony, so he would not die alone, for mercy. He wanted this, he wanted choice, control, and peace at the end of his life. Did he not deserve that? The police then treated me like a suspect for being with him and supporting him in his own decision. How is that experience not vital evidence?\u2019<\/p>\n

Clare Turner, a mother of two with stage four breast cancer, said:<\/p>\n

\u2018I feel very betrayed by this Committee. They have heard from lawyers and opponents, but not from those who would actually qualify under this Bill. As a woman who will, I deserve to be in the room. Excluding us silences the very evidence they claim to seek.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m not fearful about death, but without assisted dying, I feel fearful about the actual dying process. I want my daughters to have a positive lasting memory of me, and being able to choose the timing, nature, and location of that death would give me and my family incredible peace. I would like to die under the lovely oak tree in my garden, surrounded by the people I love. If the law doesn\u2019t pass, people like me will be denied that choice.\u2019<\/p>\n

Who has been called to provide evidence?<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>The Select Committee has called 36 witnesses to give evidence.<\/p>\n

Of them, excluding the Bill sponsors and Government ministers, only three are supportive of a change in the law: Professor Sam Ahmedzai, Professor Tom Shakespeare, and Sir Nicholas Mostyn KC. Nine of the witnesses have a personal negative opinion about the Bill, or represent organisations that have strongly opposed the Bill. The remaining witnesses take a neutral stance.<\/p>\n

10 of the witnesses had already given evidence to the Bill Committee in the House of Commons back in February. The Commons Bill Committee heard from<\/a> the wife of a terminally ill British man who had an assisted death in Spain; the sister of a man who had an assisted death in Queensland, Australia; and the brother of a British woman with motor neurone disease who travelled to Dignitas in Switzerland for an assisted death.<\/p>\n

We do not see why the Lords Committee did not likewise want to hear directly from those with personal testimonies.<\/p>\n

No international evidence, either<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the opponents of the Bill, Lord Goodman, wrote in the Times<\/em> yesterday<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m a member of the select committee set up to probe the bill\u2019s potential implementation and effects. Hence my internet search. The bill would provide for assisted suicide under certain circumstances, and I wanted to find out more about how it works abroad.\u2019<\/p>\n

This is ironic because the Committee did not request evidence from any international experts, including those from jurisdictions where assisted dying is working. This month, Uruguay became the 34th jurisdiction<\/a> in the world to allow assisted dying.<\/p>\n

The House of Commons Bill Committee received evidence from international witnesses at the start of this year. Experts from Australia<\/a> and the United States<\/a> told the committee that assisted dying was working safely and compassionately in their respective jurisdictions.\u00a0 The Health and Social Care Committee inquiry into assisted dying also took oral evidence from a range of international experts<\/a> in 2023. Furthermore, New Zealand<\/a>, Western Australia<\/a> and Victoria<\/a> have produced detailed annual reports and reviews that show their respective laws are safe and compassionate.<\/p>\n

Dave Sowry, Board Member of My Death, My Decision, accompanied his wife to Switzerland for an assisted death in 2022. He said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Listening to the questions asked by the House of Lords committee taking evidence about the Terminally Ill Adults Bill, you might not realise that this Bill is about terminally ill adults at the end of life who want a simple process to reassure them as they live out their last weeks. These people must be put at the centre of every discussion at every step of the process, and their autonomy must be respected. Why aren\u2019t their views being heard by the committee?<\/p>\n

\u2018Instead, we\u2019ve heard old arguments rehashed for no apparent reason other than to slow the Bill down. None of these arguments are different to the concerns raised in the debates that preceded the introduction of similar laws in jurisdictions with a terminal illness, mental capacity model. In these jurisdictions, this model now operates successfully and safely. Why hasn\u2019t this evidence from abroad been allowed to be heard in Committee?\u2019<\/p>\n

Richy Thompson, Director of Public Affairs and Policy at Humanists UK, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018It is unbelievable that not a single session for the Terminally Ill Adults Bill Committee will include terminally ill people. You cannot exclude their voices in this debate, and their experience is vital in understanding the workability of the proposed Bill.<\/p>\n

\u2018What is crystal clear is that the status quo is unworkable; it leads to unnecessary suffering, painful suicides, and people fleeing their own country to take control of their deaths. We hope that peers recognise and listen to the lived experience of the terminally ill and understand why the law must change.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The House of Lords Select Committee for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has just announced its final oral witnesses, and it will not hear from terminally ill individuals or those who have assisted loved ones to die. Clare Turner, a terminally ill person, and Louise Shackleton, who accompanied her husband to Switzerland… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":183,"featured_media":97848,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145372","press-release","type-press-release","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTerminally Ill Adults Select Committee won\u2019t hear from the terminally ill - Politics.co.uk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politics.co.uk\/opinion-former\/press-release\/2025\/10\/29\/terminally-ill-adults-select-committee-wont-hear-from-the-terminally-ill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Terminally Ill Adults Select Committee won\u2019t hear from the terminally ill - Politics.co.uk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The House of Lords Select Committee for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has just announced its final oral witnesses, and it will not hear from terminally ill individuals or those who have assisted loved ones to die. 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