Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Baroness Hayman Excerpts

Friday 12th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman (CB)]

My Lords, I can beat the noble Baroness, Lady Morris of Bolton, by two years: in 2004, I was appointed a member of the Select Committee of this House investigating the Bill brought forward by the much-missed Lord Joffe. After that Bill, that committee had an extensive programme of work. It travelled—although not as far as it would have to travel today—to see all the jurisdictions where legislation is in place. We saw Dignitas, and we had many evidence sessions. Listening to the debate today, I wondered how many Members of your Lordships’ House had actually read that report and seen how these issues come up again and again.

Of course, there have been other Bills and other debates—more in this House than in the other place—and there have been many reports, most notably the Select Committee of the other place on health and social care. We have had a lot more evidence and looked at different ways of approaching it. What we have not resolved, of course, is the issue of principle that divides many people in this House.

I had a wry smile when the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, said we should not rush into this. It has been 21 years; I am getting near retirement, and I would like to see some progress made. We have to recognise that other jurisdictions have made progress and that there have been advances in palliative care, which I of course support. But I have to say to the noble Lord, Lord McColl, that, however advanced palliative care is, it does not help everybody. I am still haunted by the last conversation I had last year with someone very close to me who was dying in a London teaching hospital that had cared for him for many years, with wonderful palliative care. The last thing he said to me was, “Every night I go to sleep, I pray that I won’t wake up”.

On our visit to Oregon, one of the things that struck me most, which was new to me, was learning how many people asked for a prescription for the drugs to end their life but did not use them. It was around 40% and has been a pretty constant figure, I think, which has been replicated in other jurisdictions.

The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of London rightly said that if we change the law, it will affect more people than the 1% who have an assisted death; but that is a good thing. It would give tremendous comfort and courage to many people with terminal diseases to know that, if the worst comes to the worst, if palliative care cannot help them, there is an option they could choose to take. That would be a good and compassionate thing not just for the 1% but for many more of us.