Disabled activists appeal to MP not to use her ballot position to bring assisted dying bill back to parliament

Disabled campaigners have appealed to an MP not to use her success in the private members’ bill ballot to launch a new bid to legalise assisted suicide.

Not Dead Yet UK hand-delivered a letter to the constituency office of Labour MP Lauren Edwards on Saturday, asking her to take forward a bill on palliative care rather than one that would legalise assisted dying.

Edwards voted in favour of the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill when it was debated in the Commons in June 2025.

The bill, which would have legalised assisted suicide for those in England and Wales who were terminally-ill and had less than six months to live, ran out of time in the House of Lords when the parliamentary session ended in April.

Disabled peers and others who suggested multiple amendments aimed at fixing the legislation’s many flaws had faced months of attacks in the Lords and the media accusing them of trying to block the legislation by “filibustering”.

The bill’s supporters are now hoping to re-introduce the proposed legislation through the private members’ bill process.

Edwards came second in the ballot that decides which MPs will have priority in taking forward a private members’ bill of their choice.

Reports suggest she is under pressure from pro-assisted suicide campaigners to take on the bill, first introduced to the Commons in 2024 by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.

In the letter delivered to Edwards on Saturday (pictured), Phil Friend and Mike Smith, from Not Dead Yet UK, told the MP: “Before Parliament considers legislation that could put disabled and terminally ill people at risk of feeling pressured to end their lives, there is an urgent and unanswered case for dramatically improving the care that already exists.

“Palliative care in England is underfunded and unequal. Social care is in crisis.

“People are making end-of-life decisions under conditions of desperation, not genuine free choice.

“We would strongly encourage you to consider bringing a Private Member’s Bill on palliative care instead – it would help more people, more quickly, with far less risk.”

They pointed out that the safeguards in Leadbeater’s bill had been “inadequate” and the implications for disabled people “had not been properly addressed”.

Meanwhile, a new poll commissioned by The Other Half, a research centre for policy in the interests of women, has found that legalising assisted suicide does not rank among the top five priorities for new legislation in any constituency in Britain.

A majority of voters in every constituency agreed that parliament should prioritise fixing the NHS and improving palliative, social and end-of-life care before considering whether to introduce assisted dying.

Smith said this week: “People supporting this legislation don’t seem to care that disabled people keep telling Not Dead Yet that they are really scared.

“It’s hard to manage without good social care and a decent quality of life, and the draining fight we must have to access them.

“We know from other countries that disabled people have chosen assisted suicide simply because they couldn’t access a meaningful life. Worse still, some doctors have suggested it.

“The Leadbeater bill ran out of time during the previous parliamentary term because it was too flawed to be fixed – the safeguarding within the bill simply wasn’t good enough.

“Bringing back the same bill won’t change that.

“Decent social care, housing and access to good palliative care must come before there is a change in the law; otherwise, any choice will not be a genuine choice.

“We strongly urge Lauren Edwards to use this important opportunity she has to improve lives, not hasten their deaths.

“A Labour MP should understand that protecting those with a less-heard voice is essential in a just and fair society.”