Watch as Ipswich retired doctor and Mid Suffolk campaigner make their cases on assisted dying

A campaigner and a retired doctor have made their cases for and against assisted dying ahead of MPs casting their votes.

Later today, MPs from across the country will meet in the House of Commons to debate and vote on the second reading of the assisted dying bill.

The bill is looking to introduce assisted dying into UK law and has sparked strong debate locally and across the country.

Samantha Smith, from Gosbeck, is the lead Suffolk campaigner for Dignity in Dying and says assisted dying gives people the choice to avoid unnecessary suffering.

She began campaigning for its introduction after her grandad passed away in what she described as a 'really upsetting' way.

"My grandpa was fearful, didn't understand what was going on and was like a wild animal, terrified and in pain," she said.

"It's a story I've heard many times — they're reduced to an almost animalistic form.

"You just have to stand on the sidelines helpless, just watching and waiting."

Addressing some of the concerns raised by those who oppose the bill, Ms Smith said assisted dying should not replace investment in palliative care and added the safeguards proposed were crucial in ensuring unnecessary deaths didn't happen.

She said: "England is bringing it in one of the strictest ways compared to other countries — I don't have this fear about this slippery slope argument.

"Very few people actually use it, it's more about peace of mind that it's there should they need it."

On the other side of the discussion, Dr Peter Phillips, a recently retired consultant geriatrician and stroke physician, believes approving the bill will eventually result in its expansion as it has in other countries.

The Ipswich doctor criticised elements within the bill such as the requirement for the person wishing to end their life to be expected to die within six months.

"In my experience, it has never been possible to accurately estimate how long people have to live, we invariably get it wrong, we underestimate it and we overestimate it," he said.

"It opens the door to a lot of frail and vulnerable people to be invited to volunteer for assisted dying and who, in many ways, feel they're in the way."

Dr Phillips stressed investment in palliative care should be the top priority when it comes to the end of life as a way of alleviating pain and suffering so that assisted dying is not needed in the first place.

He added: "The thing that does give us dignity is that people love us, care for us, and value us and this is really what good quality palliative care is about.

"Those are the principles we would like to see developed in palliative care, not this rather callous solution."

What is the bill about?

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was brought forward by Labour member, Kim Leadbeater, as the new Government's first private member's bill.

Under the bill, as proposed, those wishing to end their life must satisfy several conditions — these are:

- Be over 18, live in England and Wales, and have been registered with a GP for at least a year.

- Have the mental capacity to make a settled and informed wish free from coercion or pressure.

- Be expected to die within six months.

- Make two separate declarations on their wish to die which must be both witnessed and signed.

- Be signed off by two independent doctors with at least seven days between them, as well as a High Court judge.

If the person satisfies all the steps, a doctor would then prepare the drug being used and the person who wishes to end their life would then take it themselves.

What happens after the vote?

Once the vote is cast, if it fails to carry the bill forward, then it is unlikely the subject will come back on the table for several years.

The last time, in 2015, MPs turned it down by 330 votes to 118.

If MPs decide to take it through, however, then it still has several stages to overcome, meaning it will not become law straight away.

Instead, the bill would be subject to further debates, votes, and potential amendments in the House of Commons and Lords over the next year.

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