Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Debate between Baroness Gerada and Lord Moore of EtchinghamFriday 6th February 2026
(1 week, 2 days ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-26 View all Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-26 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: HL Bill 112-IX(a) Amendments for Committee (Supplementary to the Ninth Marshalled List) - (6 Feb 2026)
Baroness Gerada (CB)
I was not aware of that research. The evidence shows, and we heard it from the Australian group, that where voluntary assisted death is in place, the provision of palliative care is improved. In Australia, a great deal more resource was put in to providing palliative care. My point, however, is: please can we no longer conflate the language of assisted suicide with that of voluntary assisted death.
Lord Moore of Etchingham (Non-Afl)
My Lords, I of course agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Gerada, that there are many different motives for killing yourself, but we are talking about making a law here. It is very important that the natural and ordinary meaning of words is established and preserved. Suicide means killing yourself, and what is proposed in the Bill is killing yourself with assistance. It is very important to keep explaining that to people, because otherwise they will be permanently misled about what is actually happening.