Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Pippa Heylings Excerpts

Friday 16th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Tom Gordon (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD)]

I start by thanking the hon. Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) for introducing the Bill and for giving me the opportunity to serve on the Bill Committee.

I rise to speak in favour of my amendment 4, which goes to the very heart of what the Bill is all about: dignity, compassion and choice at the end of life.

[Pippa Heylings (South Cambridgeshire) (LD)]

My hon. Friend is right to point out that compassion and fairness for those who are terminally ill are rightly at the heart of the Bill. Does he agree with my constituents who would like to see it extended to those terminally ill with motor neurone disease and neurodegenerative disorders, to give them choice and dignity, too, by extending the eligibility period? [Interruption.]

[Tom Gordon]

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. It was really interesting how the debate was conducted on Second Reading and in Committee, and how we were meant to be having that respectful debate, and it is disappointing to hear comments from opponents already.

Amendment 4 seeks a simple yet crucial change to extend the eligibility period for those with neurodegenerative conditions, from six months to 12 months, something that is already reflected in legislation in five of six Australian states. My amendment mirrors the wording used in that legislation, and it is based not on conjecture but on medical reality, international precedent and, most importantly, the lived experiences of those facing some of the most harrowing diseases imaginable.

Amendment 4 would not expand the Bill’s reach beyond terminal conditions; it simply acknowledges that for people with conditions such as MND and other neurodegenerative diseases, the current six-month prognosis requirement creates a cruel and unnecessary barrier.