“My time is running out”: Dame Esther Rantzen issues final appeal urging MPs to attend landmark assisted dying debate this Friday
Dame Esther Rantzen has issued a powerful appeal to all 650 Westminster MPs, asking them to attend a “crucial” debate and vote on Kim Leadbeater MP’s Bill on Choice at the End of Life this Friday 29th November.
The intervention comes almost a year to the day since Dame Esther, who has stage four lung cancer, first told the Radio 4’s Today programme she had signed up to Dignitas; a moment which galvanised public and political support for an assisted dying law for the UK.
On Friday 29 November, MPs will debate Kim Leadbeater’s Private Members’ Bill, which proposes that terminally ill, mentally competent adults should have the choice of assisted dying; a reform supported by the overwhelming majority of the British public, as confirmed by multiple opinion polls throughout this year (i.e. 75%, Opinium March 2024). This will be the first time that MPs have voted on assisted dying in nearly a decade.
In her letter, Dame Esther urges MPs to attend the debate no matter how they intend to vote, saying: “This is such a vital life and death issue, one that we the public care desperately about, so it is only right that as many MPs as possible listen to the arguments for and against, and make up your own minds, according to your own conscience, your personal thoughts and feelings.”
She tells MPs: “This Bill will never apply to me as I have stage four lung cancer, and my time is running out. But I am fortunate to have the choice of an assisted death in Dignitas in Switzerland.” Dame Esther points out that she may have to travel there alone in order to protect her family from prosecution – a choice some terminally ill Brits are forced to make under the ban on assisted dying, that is if they can afford the £15,000 required for this option. Many more are forced to suffer against their wishes despite the best care, or to take matters into their own hands at home. Dame Esther adds, “I have received so many messages from people who have been traumatised by having to experience their loved ones suffering.”
Also in the letter, Dame Esther:
- Highlights key evidence from the Health Select Committee’s 14-month Inquiry that assisted dying has not damaged palliative care where it is legal, and that in many jurisdictions it has strengthened it.
- Reminds MPs of the “tragic truth” that, even with the best possible palliative care, some terminally ill people will continue to suffer in the absence of this choice.
- Thanks Kim Leadbeater MP for her dedicated work in bringing the Bill forward, and also thanks “the many MPs who have been meeting and consulting their constituents to hear their views and experiences”.
Sarah Wootton, Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying, said:
“Dame Esther is absolutely right that this will be a crucial debate for the millions of people up and down the country who fully back greater choice for terminally ill people.
“This debate so often focuses on the arguments for and against, that it can be forgotten that there are thousands of people, right now, who are suffering under the status quo and willing MPs with every fibre of their being to vote for this Bill. As Esther says, all they are asking for is choice.
“Esther has called this her final campaign, and she has undoubtedly helped drive the need for change up the political agenda. The fight for greater choice at the end of life is a fitting addition to her legacy of campaigning for people’s rights.
“Esther will be watching Friday’s debate keenly from home, with her daughter Rebecca representing her at Parliament, standing shoulder to shoulder with families campaigning for this change.
“Parliament has a historic opportunity to end the injustice of the ban on assisted dying and introduce new protections for dying people and for us all. People who want and need choice as they die, loved ones who have witnessed the devastation caused when choice is denied, and the British public are united in calling on MPs to vote for compassion, for protection, for dignity.”
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For interview requests please contact Joseph Crook at Dignity in Dying at joseph.crook@dignityindying.org.uk or 07356 135578.