Region's MPs split over vote on assisted dying
MPs across the West Midlands were divided on how they voted on the assisted dying bill.
Reflecting the split across the country, the region's MPs narrowly voted in favour, but there were plenty on all sides of the house who voted against.
A slender majority of MPs backed the bill, which would allow terminally ill adults with a life expectancy of less than six months to end their lives.
Despite warnings from opponents around the safety of a bill they argued has been rushed through, the proposed legislation took another step in the parliamentary process.
MPs voted 314 to 291 (a majority of 23) to approve Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at the third reading.
Dudley Labour MP Sonia Kumar voted in favour of the bill, but said it had been a difficult decision.
"I'm a Sikh, and it goes against my religion, but I am not voting on the basis of my personal religious beliefs," she said.
"I believe people should have the choice about how they spend the end of their lives."
Miss Kumar said she was satisfied with the safeguards in the Bill, which included a requirement that only people who were expected to have less than six months to live. Assisted deaths would need to be approved by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, a senior legal figure and a psychiatrist, which she said would prevent people ending their lives due to mental illness.
She said as a physiotherapist who had also worked in intensive care, she had seen patients who had been forced to endure intolerable pain. She said it was wrong that people felt forced to travel to other countries to end their lives.
"People shouldn't be going abroad to end their suffering," she said. "We should give them the choice."
Mike Wood, Conservative MP for the neighbouring Kingswinford and South Staffordshire constituency, voted against the bill. He said he supported the principle of assisted dying, but could not support the bill in its present form.
"I'm terrified that someone I love might choose to accelerate their death," he said.
Mr Wood said was not convinced by the safeguards put in place, and did not accept that the bill was stronger than when it last came before the house in November.
Also voting against was Sureena Brackenridge, Labour MP for Wolverhampton North East.
"I do not believe the safeguards currently outlined in the Bill are strong enough," she said. "I worry that vulnerable people—those living with disabilities or facing financial difficulties given a terminal diagnosis—may feel pressure, whether real or perceived, to make a decision they wouldn’t otherwise choose. Some may feel like a burden. Others might face subtle coercion. I am not satisfied that the protections go far enough to prevent this."
Mark Garnier, Conservative MP for Wyre Forest, voted in favour of the bill.
He spoke of his mother’s drawn-out death from pancreatic cancer, saying she had endured more suffering and anguish compared with a constituent with the same disease who ended their life under assisted dying laws in Spain.
