The Labour MP Lauren Edwards has confirmed she will reintroduce the assisted dying Bill in the Commons as a Private Member’s Bill (PMB). As a supporter of assisted dying, you might expect that I would be entirely in favour of this initiative. In fact, I have a number of significant concerns.

Edwards indicated that she will be introducing the same Bill (the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill) that had previously been introduced by her colleague Kim Leadbeater in the last parliamentary session. Leadbeater’s Bill would have allowed adults over the age of 18 who were expected to die within six months to be given help to end their own lives, subject to certain safeguards.

That Bill passed the House of Commons, but it subsequently stalled in the House of Lords after a small number of peers tabled an immense number of amendments. Eventually, the Bill ran out of time and fell at the end of the session, as it could not be carried over into the next session.

With the issue of assisted dying, the essential point is to get it right, not to get it done quickly

With the issue of assisted dying, the essential point is to get it right, not to get it done quickly

Edwards argues that she is putting the question to MPs again on two grounds. First, whether mentally competent, terminally ill adults at the very end of their lives should be offered the choice of a dignified, pain-free death with all the protections and safeguards the Bill provides. Second, whether the decision of the........

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