Colum Eastwood Declares Intent to Vote for Assisted Dying Bill

The Member of Parliament for Foyle and former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), Colum Eastwood, has stated his intention to vote in favour of assisted dying legislation when it is presented before the House of Commons. Eastwood explained that his decision was influenced by “all the people that I have known who have had difficult, bad deaths”. He expressed confidence that “there are enough safeguards in this law”. Also speaking on the programme, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson indicated he would vote against the bill, citing concerns that individuals might feel pressured to end their own lives. On Friday, MPs are scheduled to vote on a private members bill that aims to grant terminally ill individuals in England and Wales the right to choose to end their life. Assisted dying is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland, meaning that any changes to the law are at the discretion of elected politicians there. During an interview on the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme, Eastwood remarked that he had “always felt that some of form of legislation to deal with this issue was important”. He further added, “I honestly think there isn’t a family in Northern Ireland that hasn’t been affected by somebody who had to suffer at the end of their life.” Eastwood affirmed his belief in the “sanctity of life” while also believing in “dignity in death”. Eastwood described reaching a position on the bill as “difficult,” noting that the risk of people feeling pressured to end their lives was the “biggest issue that I had to grapple with”. However, he stated that “how onerous the process is” under the proposed legislation had given him confidence in this particular area. He said, “I don’t think people will go through that onerous process because they feel under pressure.” Eastwood mentioned that his party leader, Claire Hanna, would “in the coming days I’m sure… make her position clear”. The proposed legislation specifies that anyone wishing to end their life must: Under the proposals, a High Court judge would be required to rule on each individual request made to end one’s life. Following the judge’s ruling, a patient would be mandated to wait 14 days before taking action. A doctor would be responsible for preparing the substance used to end the patient’s life, but the individual themselves would administer it. The bill does not specify which drug would be utilized. It would be illegal to coerce someone into declaring their wish to end their life, with a potential prison sentence of 14 years. DUP Leader Gavin Robinson stated he lacked “any reassurances around safeguards” within the legislation. The MP for East Belfast pointed out that because the legislation was introduced as a private members bill, rather than government legislation, it was “devoid of any information, consultations, white paper, [or] pre-legislative scrutiny”. He added, “We don’t have the opportunity to consider impact reports, all of which would be normal in ordinary legislative terms.” Robinson characterized the introduction of “such a seismic proposal, a proposal that will change care givers to killers” as “extraordinary.” While acknowledging that many of his concerns with this legislation revolved around “process,” he asserted: “I can’t think of a process that would leave me to support this proposition.” Describing himself as “pro-life,” Robinson said that if someone was suffering, he would want to “ease pain and ease burden but I wouldn’t want to end life”. Jim Allister also confirmed his intention to vote against the bill, speaking on BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme on Wednesday. He declared, “I am pro-life in all my approaches to these things.” He continued, “This is quite a shocking interference by the state. “The state and many charities spend a lot of money, quite rightly, in trying to reduce suicide and yet here we have the state about to sanction and indeed promote assisted suicide – and I just can’t square that circle. “This is not what Parliamentarians should be doing – which is facilitating the end of life.” The TUV leader expressed concern that if this became legislation, it would “diminish the focus on palliative care”. The North Antrim MP elaborated, “It will mean that there is another way out and the state does not need to put the money that it should be putting into palliative care.” He concluded, “This is not a level playing field, palliative care has been neglected by and large and that’s where Parliament’s attention should be.” Other politicians who have previously declared their opposition to the legislation include Sorcha Eastwood of the Alliance Party, Robin Swann from the Ulster Unionist Party, independent MP Alex Easton, and the four other MPs from the DUP. Easton conveyed to the News Letter that “the desire for autonomy and dignity at the end of life is an understandable and powerful sentiment”. However, he further stated: “My concerns rest on the potential unintended consequences such a change might bring, including the impact on vulnerable individuals who might feel pressured to make decisions based on external influences or a sense of obligation”. In a social media post, Sorcha Eastwood indicated she had “been lobbied strongly by doctors, disability groups, thousands of people in Lagan Valley to oppose this and I will do so”. She added, “I appreciate there are many views on this difficult and highly emotive issue that is literally life and death and I have given a lot of thought to it over the last months- this is not a decision I take lightly, but I respect all views on this and ask that my own view be respected too”. Sinn Féin, whose members do not occupy their seats in the House of Commons, did not provide a statement on the bill despite multiple requests. Earlier this year, a spokesperson for Sinn Féin had commented: “In principle we support legislating for assisted dying in certain circumstances and with robust safeguards, but the legislation should only be progressed once the appropriate services and supports are available.”