Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Johanna Baxter Excerpts

Friday 20th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[David Burton-Sampson (Southend West and Leigh) (Lab)]

This is my first time speaking to the Bill, so I want to start by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) for having the courage to bring forward such a significant piece of legislation. I thank all hon. and right hon. Members who have been part of the debate and who have worked on the Bill so far for their thoughtful contributions.

Until this week, I have remained open-minded and undecided on this Bill. My starting point in the debate was my own personal views. I am personally against assisted dying, because of my Christian faith, and for selfish reasons also, as I am a little bit scared of losing people and being there at the end of people’s lives. But, like all of us, I have received a significant amount of communication on this matter, so I, too, decided to launch my own local survey, in which I asked my constituents for their stance on the Bill: for, against or undecided. What became increasingly clear is that people are split on this issue. Fifty-five per cent of people were against, 42% were for and the remainder were unsure. That “for” figure is not insignificant.

I promised my very close friend Emma that I would share the story of her mum Cheryl, who was diagnosed with terminal stage 4 cancer just over two and a half years ago. Emma wanted to cherish every last minute of her mum’s life, and she was outstanding at creating those special memories with her in the last year or so. Emma was against assisted dying at the time and wanted to do everything to keep her mum with her for as long as possible. Cheryl sadly died last year. Emma told me:

“I think if something like this was legal it would stop people having to go through what mam went through on those last few weeks of her life. She could have had a dignified, pain free death. Instead, all her dignity was stripped from her and she was in so much pain, despite the strong pain meds. I will never be able to forget the screams. I hope this does get passed to give people like mam the choice and to be in control.”

Like, I am sure, everyone else, I have received similar comments from constituents about watching relatives fade away in pain and agony, suffering a lingering death and begging for it to stop.

[Johanna Baxter (Paisley and Renfrewshire South) (Lab)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[David Burton-Sampson]

I will not, because I want other Members to be able to speak.

I supported the Bill on Second Reading, to allow the debate to move forward and with the hope of satisfying my concerns—the main two being the definition of mental capacity and how it can be interpreted, and the safeguards in place to ensure that an individual is not coerced. I also wanted assurances that the Bill is strong enough to avoid the slippery-slope scenario that we have seen in other countries. After listening to the debate on Report and absorbing the vast amount of information I have received from Members and various lobbying organisations on both sides of the debate, and after meeting people on both sides, including my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley, I am satisfied that my concerns have been addressed.

In my view, the Bill now has more controls than when we looked at it on Second Reading, not fewer. I also reject the suggestion that the Bill has not received sufficient scrutiny. The debate on assisted dying has been ongoing for many years. A significant amount of analysis, reports and information is available. The Bill has gone through hours of scrutiny in Committee and on Report, and it will, of course, go through the same in the other place.

I have spent time looking at all the information, and I am sure other Members have, too. I believe in choice. Although at this stage in my life, I believe that assisted dying is not for me, there are many who feel otherwise. They should be able to make this deeply personal choice, just as they can make choices about so many other elements of their life, such as whether to follow a religion, marry, have children or get divorced. These are life choices, usually made by somebody of sound mind and with considerable thought. We should be able to make the same choices about our death.

After much consideration, I am minded to support the Bill on Third Reading. I will listen to the rest of the debate, but I must say that if Third Reading is not agreed to, we cannot allow the debate to disappear for another decade. The country needs this option. My constituents tell me that we need to find an acceptable way to legislate as soon as is practicable.