The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Dying Well will host an event for MPs, Peers, MSPs and MSs on Thursday 15 July where they will hear from expert speakers on why people with disabilities in the UK are opposed to assisted suicide.

Among other matters, they will address claims from pro-assisted suicide campaigners regarding safeguards and prognosis of terminal illness, and challenge discriminatory propaganda.

Speakers will include Dr Peter Scott-Morgan, the world’s leading robotics and AI scientist who was diagnosed with the severest form of motor neurone disease (ALS) in 2017 and given two years to live. Peter will give a presentation showcasing his new naturally speaking avatar, which has given him a voice and expression, having lost this capability a year ago when he became motionless as a result of MND.

Other contributors will include Dr Miro Griffiths, a writer, broadcaster, and academic who currently lectures in disabilities studies at Leeds University and who has the progressive condition Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Baroness Jane Campbell of Surbiton, disability rights campaigner and founder of Not Dead Yet UK (NDYUK), and Philip Friend, convenor of NDYUK.

Not Dead Yet UK is a network of disabled people in the UK who have joined a growing international alliance of disabled people, who oppose the legalised killing of disabled people.  All those involved are disabled people including people with physical and sensory impairments, learning difficulties, and mental health conditions. NDYUK is responding to an increasing number of well-coordinated campaigns aimed at legitimising the killing of terminally ill and disabled people, which would inevitably result from the removal of legal barriers and the promotion of social acceptance of voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Dying Well is meeting at a critical time. In April, the then Health Secretary Matt Hancock attended a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Choice at the End of Life and discussed how the Government could gather more evidence on the issue. In May, a new assisted suicide bill received its first reading in the House of Lords with its second reading expected in the autumn.

The APPG for Dying Well stands against the legalisation of assisted suicide and instead promotes access to excellent palliative care. This meeting will inform your local politicians of the opposition to assisted suicide among people with disabilities in the United Kingdom.

Please enter your postcode in the box above to email your local politicians requesting they attend the meeting on Thursday 15 July so they can hear expert evidence on why people with disabilities in the UK are opposed to assisted suicide.

If you personally would like to attend you may do so by emailing the secretariat, sophiej.clarke@parliament.uk, who will send joining instructions for the meeting.

Finally, if you or anyone you know has a personal story related to concerns on the legalisation of assisted suicide, we would encourage you to please consider writing a personalised email to your MP on this matter. You can find your MP’s email address here.