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Temperatures rise in UK's assisted dying debate amid claims of ‘chaotic' process

Temperatures rise in UK's assisted dying debate amid claims of ‘chaotic' process

Irish Times16-05-2025
Supporters and opponents of the
UK's
landmark Bill to legalise
assisted dying
– known by its detractors as assisted suicide – gathered in different verdant corners of sunny Westminster on Friday as MPs debated inside the House of Commons.
Those supporting a change in the law to allow terminally ill patients in England and Wales to seek medical help ending their own lives gathered beneath an array of bright pink banners on the lawns of Parliament Square. 'My dying wish is dignity,' they said.
Around the corner, at the statue of King George V off Abingdon Street, opponents of the proposal struck a darker tone, holding mocked up headstones engraved with a warning about the apparent watering down of oversight of future assisted deaths: 'RIP – 'strictest safeguards in the world.''
Pink to support the right to die, and headstones for the sanctity of life. Therein was captured the incongruity of Britain's national conversation about the right, or otherwise, to an assisted death. Increasingly fraught and tetchy, the mood of the national debate was reflected inside the Commons chamber, as MPs grew frustrated as they ran out of time to speak.
READ MORE
It was originally thought MPs might get their final say on Friday on Labour MP Kim Leadbeater's Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which passed its crucial second reading in the Commons last November by 330 votes to 275.
But there have been so many amendments proposed since, the speaker of the House, Lindsay Hoyle, has kicked the crucial vote out until at least June 13th, and possibly later. Even then, many MPs on Friday complained the Bill was being rushed through parliament without proper scrutiny.
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Assisted dying: Do we understand it properly?
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One Labour MP, Naz Shah, described the process as 'chaos . . . a disservice to parliament and our constituents. We shouldn't be playing games with people's lives like this.' She complained of only being told by Leadbeater that her amendment might be accepted when she arrived in the Commons that morning, leaving her no time to study the wording.
Prime minister
Keir Starmer's
government is ostensibly neutral on the Bill, although everybody knows that he favours it. He has granted a free vote, meaning MPs are not party whipped and can vote with their conscience.
As the government did not bring the Bill forward, it has been proposed as a private members' Bill by Labour backbencher, Leadbeater. This means, however, that it can only be scrutinised during the time set aside each week for private Bills, Friday mornings and afternoons until 2.30pm.
Opponents say such a landmark proposal should have been proposed by the government, allowing it to be scrutinised at greater length during government time in the parliamentary week. Supporters, meanwhile, believe they still have the numbers to push it through the House.
They must wait until next month to find out.
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Minister of State for Mental Health Mary Butler says no patients have been treated abroad this year so far for specialist eating-disorder care. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire At least 20 new specialist beds will be established in the coming years, under proposals submitted by the HSE for Ms Butler's approval. The beds will be spread between Dublin and the rest of the country, but all of them will have a national catchment area. For some people, recovery feels impossible. Aoife, which is not her real name, developed eating disorder behaviours when she was 12, after she sought to lose weight for her Confirmation. 'My family weren't very nice about my body. But also society. You'd be in drama class and I was the biggest so I would have to try on the costume and if it didn't fit me then nobody would get it. Then there were things like the Special K diet, or Kate Moss's saying about skinny being better,' she says. The 32-year-old Cork woman says she was diagnosed with anorexia at the age of 15, and went into hospital when she was 16, which she describes as 'the worst point in my life ever'. 'I couldn't control anything. I had a tube in my nose, I wasn't allowed to walk anywhere. I basically just lay in bed. I soiled myself because it would expend too much energy to go to the bathroom. It was only about weight restoration, not about treating the eating disorder,' she says. She struggled through college but was determined to continue her studies. I've been told I'll never recover. I have chronic anorexia. So you ask yourself, what's the point in trying? — 'Aoife' After graduating as a teacher, she realised she needed to get better before she could work full-time. In 2016, she returned to inpatient care. She improved somewhat, she says, but was not in recovery. She was admitted again two years ago, but had to leave early due to panic attacks. For her, she says, a history of trauma is playing a role in her current condition: her sister died when she was very young. 'I overate when she died; that was soothing myself. My life felt out of control, I didn't know who would die next. Food was something I could control,' she says. But it is 20 years since the onset of those challenges. These days, she feels quite hopeless about her current trajectory. 'I've been told I'll never recover. I have chronic anorexia. So you ask yourself, what's the point in trying? Normal eating is no longer normal for me. This has become my normal and it's very hard to see outside of it,' she says. [ Eating disorders in later life: Some of my peers have had teenage weight levels for decades Opens in new window ] 'It's pointless to be here every day. I keep wondering, how did things come to this? I'd love for someone to tell me what to do because I just don't know where to go or what to do. I look inward wondering what I could do differently. What did I do to deserve this?' Trying to find somewhere to go is something many patients experience. Alicia Woods, clinical nurse specialist at Lois Bridges, says the centre is a private facility, but they receive 'phone calls everyday of the week from people who don't have private health insurance'. 'We treat a range of eating disorders. And in terms of age, we've treated from 18 up to people in their early 70s,' she says. 'The majority of older people with eating disorders have had it their whole life but they just haven't had the information, education or support to seek help. Some people do develop it later in life.' Though Woods says the reasons why individuals develop eating disorders are complex and nuanced, she believes social media is playing a role. 'Body positivity was such a thing, but now we've gone back almost 20 years. The videos on social media, encouraging people to obsessively run 5K a day, or the 'what I eat in a day' videos [and the food quantity] is not enough to feed a toddler,' she says. She is also concerned about the potential impact the widespread availability of weight loss jabs like Ozempic might have on vulnerable individuals. 'We know that people can put in fake weights and get these prescriptions. If someone already has a low [body mass index] ... the potential of that is frightening,' she adds. But even when people can access treatment, often recovery is not linear, according to 38-year-old Edel Higgins. She was diagnosed with an eating disorder when she was around 25. She didn't know much about such disorders at the time, but says she had 'always tried to change my physical appearance'. [ Families: the untapped superpower in eating disorder recovery Opens in new window ] It took four inpatient stays before she reached a point where she sees herself as being in recovery. She says: 'It doesn't just take one go. People often feel guilty when they have to go back. But it's such a complex illness.' The Tallaght woman is four years in 'proper recovery', but she says for her that doesn't mean the eating disorder is 'completely gone', but just now she has the 'resilience' to acknowledge and challenge those urges when they arise. She writes poetry to help her cope. She looks at inspirational quotes hung up on her wall. 'Sometimes I wish I could wake up, go about the day, not having all of these overwhelming feelings – the eating disorder and mental health [difficulties]. But it doesn't work that way. It can be frustrating. But it's about findings ways to deal with it.' Bodywhys (The Eating Disorders Association of Ireland) – – (01) 210 7906 – alex@

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