Supporters urged to contact their MPs

Dignity in Dying is asking its supporters to contact their MP. We believe that our current laws are not fit fo purpose, which leads to people suffering unnecessarily against their wishes at the end of life. It’s time for MPs to debate this issue.

Please contact your MP to ask them to sign Early Day Motion (EDM) 230.

James Harris, Head of Campaigns and Communications at Dignity in Dying says:

“MPs need to be made aware that their constituents care about this issue. They are more likely to take action if people make their voices heard.”

An EDM is a statement a backbench MP can sign in order to draw attention to specific events or campaigns, and an EDM demonstrates the extent of parliamentary support for a particular cause or point of view.

EDM 230 does not ask an MP to declare their support for a change in the law, but it does call on them to acknowledge that there is a problem and that it should be debated.

EDM 230 is as follows:

DEBATE ON MODERNISATION OF THE SUICIDE ACT 1961

That this House expresses concern that some terminally ill adults end their suffering by travelling abroad to die, committing suicide, asking a loved one for assistance to die, or are illegally assisted to die by their doctor; notes that the Suicide Act 1961 aims to protect vulnerable people by prohibiting complicity in suicide; welcomes the Government’s plans to modernise the law via the Coroners and Justice Bill to make it explicitly clear that this prohibition applies to the internet; further notes that there are concerns that the Suicide Act 1961 is not fit for purpose; and calls for a full debate on whether the law should be updated sufficiently to protect vulnerable people whilst distinguishing between assisting suicide and assisting the death of a mentally competent terminally ill adult.

When you contact your MP it is important that you give them the EDM number: 230. If they can’t or won’t sign the EDM please ask them to explain why.

To email your MP, or if you are unsure of who your MP is, please visit http://www.writetothem.com/.

Or write to them directly at:

House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA