In a recent message to its members, Humanists UK said “Extensive filibustering and a record number of amendments from unelected peers now mean it is almost certain that the Assisted Dying Bill will fail”. This assessment has not yet been endorsed by either of the other two Assisted Dying campaign organisers – Dignity in Dying and My Death My decision.
The Humanists’ worries could well prove accurate, however. Although the current Assisted Dying Bill is supported by more that 70% of British voters and successfully passed through the House or Commons last year, it has run into a wall of opposition in the House of Lords. For any Bill to become Law it must pass through both Chambers and then receive a Royal Assent. When the Bill first entered the House of Lords last autumn, most observers thought that it would face some robust opposition but would nonetheless emerge successfully. Serious amendments were expected (indeed, welcomed) but no one thought their Lordships would put their own existence on the line for the sake of a Bill that is hardly of earth-shattering national importance.
However, a die-hard (so to speak) small group of Lords have done just that. They have tabled over 1,000 amendments and insisted that each be debated in full. The Government has agreed to provide much more time for such debates but cannot hope to accommodate them all. Of course, the House of Lords, could adopt different procedures to ensure that the Bill makes progress. They have shown no sign of wanting to do so.
Many weary supporters of the Bill have started saying that, well, it wasn’t going to make much difference anyway. You had to be terminally ill. You had to be likely to die within six months. You had to get two doctors and a separate panel to agree with that. The procedural hurdles seemed insuperable. The potential cost was outrageous.
Nonetheless, if the Humanists are right and if the Bill is facing defeat then a huge opportunity will have been lost. The argument will not go away, of course, but it would be many years (and certainly another election) before another Assisted Dying Bill could be brought.
