Today I voted in favour of assisted dying in the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

Unfortunately, the Bill did not pass.

I know this is a deeply personal and sensitive issue, with strongly held views on both sides of the debate, and I am grateful for all of the correspondence I have received about it.

My belief remains that terminally ill adults should have the right to choose how they spend their final days.

The awful reality is that sometimes, the best pain relief in the world is insufficient when people are dying. This Bill contained the most extensive safeguards against coercion of any assisted dying law in the world.

The current position, where some terminally ill people are committing suicide alone, to avoid the risk of their families being criminal prosecuted for assisting them to die, or who are traveling to Dignitas with no UK safeguarding or oversight in place, is deeply problematic.

The Bill had undergone extensive scrutiny, including more than 90 hours of committee debate and 150 accepted amendments. Important changes included the creation of multidisciplinary review panels, mandatory training on recognising coercion, stronger protections for disabled people and those with eating disorders, and a requirement that doctors discuss all end-of-life options, including palliative and hospice care.

I am hugely committed to improving end of life care and I will continue to campaign for better funding and access to hospice and high-quality palliative care, and working with local hospices, the NHS, ministers, cross-party and Parliament on this.

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I would have done this, whichever way the vote went.

I will continue to campaign for assisted dying.

Sarah Russell MP

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