MPs vote to ban doctors from discussing assisted dying with terminally ill children

Parliamentarians voted on amendments to Kim Leadbeater's Terminally Ill Adult (End of Life) Bill on Friday.

They backed clause 18, which would prevent healthcare professionals raising the subject of assisted dying with those aged under 18, if the bill passes into law.

MPs voted 259 in favour and 216 against to the amendment tabled by Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier which stated “No health professional shall raise assisted dying with a person under 18”.

Another new clause, which would see assisted dying deaths not automatically referred to a coroner, was also approved.

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MPs also backed clause 20. It would force the Secretary of State to issue guidance on assisted dying.

Clause 21, approved by MPs, sets out that Welsh ministers must ensure “all reasonable steps are taken to secure” Welsh language services for assisted dying patients.

The Parliamentarians also backed a clause on the regulation of approved substances and devices to be used in assisted dying .

It imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to make regulations about approved substances and a power to make regulations about devices intended for use by terminally-ill patients taking approved substances to die.

However, an amendment to prevent health professionals raising the subject of assisted dying before a patient has brought it up themselves was voted down.

In the debate, Labour MP Rupa Huq warned assisted dying could be “quite attractive” to some vulnerable people during a cost-of-living crisis.

She said: “We know that in a cost-of-living crisis, assisted dying could be quite attractive.

“We know that BAME communities have lower disposable household income than standard households, and you can just imagine relatives in a housing crisis wanting to speed up grandad’s probate to get a foot on the ladder, or granny or nani ma or dadi ma even convincing themselves that, ‘look, they’d be better off out of the way given the cost of care’, to get the younger generation on the ladder.”

The Ealing Central and Acton MP had earlier said: “A younger me would have been 100% behind this Bill, I’m very pro body autonomy on abortion, but 10 years of being an MP has exposed me to coercion, duress, the millionaire price of London property and elder abuse.

“It’s no coincidence that the majority of London MPs and the majority of BME (black and minority ethnic) MPs oppose this, as do I.”

She added: “We know that Esther Rantzen wants this. We know Jonathan Dimbleby wants this.“But our role is to be voice of the voiceless as well.”