07 Sep 2026

Unfortunately, we need to bring this matter to your attention again, and urgently ask that you contact your MP before they vote. The assisted dying Bill has been brought back to Parliament by Lauren Edwards MP, and it’s the same Bill we dealt with before. Immediately after returning from summer recess, MPs will be voting on the Bill at Second Reading THIS WEEK on Friday 11 September. 

Use our simple email tool to contact your MP here

MPs have had very little time to consider everything. The Edwards Bill was announced 29 days before the holidays, but the text of the Bill was only made available to MPs on 16th July, the day the Commons rose for summer recess. We need to make sure that concerns such as coercion which particularly impact our community are brought back to top of mind for MPs. Your email can help bring this to their attention in a timely way. You can use the letter template provided via the email tool, but you can also prepare your own letter. 

Here are some important things to know about the Edwards Assisted Dying Bill – which is essentially the Leadbeater Bill, taken forward now by a different MP.  

Important reasons why it’s a bad idea to bring this Bill back

  • The Leadbeater Bill, which MPs narrowly voted in last time, was deeply flawed, even in the views of its supporters
  • The Bill being re-proposed is essentially exactly the same as it left the Commons last year – it contains almost none of the safeguards proposed in the Lords.
  • A new level of pressure is being applied around the Edwards Bill, aiming to change the pathway of the Bill so that the possibility of contributing or critiquing is taken out of the hands of the Lords. The Bill’s proponents have indicated a willingness to circumvent the overwhelmingly firm sentiment against the Bill in the House of Lords last year by using the Parliament Acts, never before used for a Private Members’ Bill.
  • New Prime Minister Andy Burnham is against the new Bill being introduced now, saying that fixing palliative care should come before debating assisted dying
  • The Government’s own Equality Impact Assessment warns that people who have poorer access to healthcare and experience lower-quality care may experience structural pressures to accept assisted dying – and the Government has revised the number of people expected to die by assisted dying measures upwards by 60% by year 10, from 2,183 to 3,502 a year – a massive increase. 
  • This same Government assessment also specifically warns about the dangers of the Bill for people with disabilities, particularly the coercion issues which trouble DSRF UK so much. The Bill states that after it has been in operation for five years, the Secretary of State’s statutory review must include “an assessment of the impact of this Act on persons with learning disabilities” However, for some, if anything goes wrong, the ‘impact’ would be irreversible, as this Bill deals directly with life and death. 

In general, the Bill stands to affect many vulnerable people who would probably take another route to navigate their terminal illness, if they could find one. We support the idea that the Government would do much better to lay out improved pathways to support life and wellbeing, and cut off unethical ones that cause distress and pressure and actively end life, especially where there is a risk to any group such as people with intellectual disabilities. 

What other organisations are saying

Charities and organisations representing people with disabilities have been fiercely opposed to the Bill, and their concerns are heightened by the new measures being suggested. Some groups which have recently issued statements are:

As this is essentially the same Bill with a different MP’s name attached, professional bodies which expressed concerns continue to raise them, and their objections are as strong as ever. You can see recent statements made by some professional bodies here, regarding their opposition to the Bill, or strong critique of it.

Further, the following professional bodies have critiqued the serious deficiencies of the Bill and asked for further safeguards, or have objected to the proposed roles of the professionals represented by their respective bodies. These include: the Royal College of Physicians, the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), the Royal College of Pathologists, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and the Association of Palliative Care Social Workers. 

What politicians are saying

The Leadbeater Bill scraped through Parliament, with the support of only a minority of MPs. The Bill was so flawed it couldn’t pass scrutiny in the House of Lords in time.  

Many MPs and peers have come out against the Edwards Bill after its announcement. 

Daniel Francis MP (who sat on the Bill Committee last time) says on X: 

“I said in last week’s petition debate, there remain flaws relating to mental capacity & protection for people with learning disabilities in the Assisted Dying Bill passed by the Commons last year … I’ll continue to argue this if the Bill is brought back.”

Baroness Berger of the House of Lords, who also sat on a committee to review the Leadbeater Bill, posted: 

“It was described as the ‘safest and most robust assisted dying legislation’ by **supporters** of the Bill. Not a single Royal Medical College OR Professional Body in this country will say the Bill is safe. Let alone it being the ‘safest’.”

Adam Jogee MP laments in an X post that: 

“We have debated this deeply divisive and flawed Bill for over a year and nothing has changed nothing. This Bill will hand sweeping, unchecked powers over life and death and our NHS to future governments… whoever they are. Insane stuff.”

The MPs who most concern us are those who remain on the fence. That’s why your letter carries such weight. The Bill was only carried forward last time by the votes of a small minority, so it’s more important than ever to engage with MPs before the vote. 

Please do take five minutes to complete a letter now to your MP, and if you can, please pass this information to others. Thank you!

Use our simple email tool to contact your MP here