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Ministry of Justice source claims Government will refuse to do any work on legalising euthanasia

Last week, it was reported that Health Secretary Matt Hancock had written to the Office of National Statistic (ONS), to ask for data on how many suicides are undertaken by Britons with terminal medical conditions. 

Hancock revealed to a private meeting of MPs and peers last week that he wanted to obtain these figures as a step towards renewing the debate on legalising doctor-assisted suicide. A Department of Health spokesman officially added that the Minister had requested the ONS data “to inform Parliament’s debate on the issue”.

However, a senior source at the Ministry of Justice has told The Sunday Telegraph that Ministers will not consult or issue a call for evidence on relaxing assisted suicide laws.

Minister for Justice Robert Buckland, himself, is reportedly in favour of current legal guidance on the issue. The source added: “You don’t see loving couples ending with the surviving member of the couple going to court. That does not happen”.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide

All forms of assisted suicide remain illegal in the United Kingdom, and doctors found to be assisting a suicide can be jailed for up to 14 years, under the Suicide Act 1961. 

Euthanasia is currently legal in Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, while assisted suicide is permitted in Switzerland. 

Euthanasia for terminally-ill people will become legal in New Zealand this November after a referendum last year. Euthanasia is defined as the act of ”intentionally ending a life to relieve suffering”, while assisted suicide describes all forms of intentional assisted death. 

As Danny Kruger MP highlighted in an opinion piece the previous week, “Laws [in Belgium and the Netherlands, and Canada] which were supposed to limit euthanasia to mentally competent terminally ill adults now allow the euthanasia of non-mentally competent adults, disabled children aged under 12 months, disabled adults, and even those with treatable psychiatric problems”.

The future for assisted suicide in Britain

As opponents of assisted suicide and euthanasia have consistently argued, laws that permit assisted suicide or euthanasia in restricted circumstances often quickly expand to permit state-sanctioned assisted suicide for other categories of people too.

Former Conservative Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell MP, a long-time campaigner for assisted suicide, is leading a group of MPs who want the Government to allow a free vote on the issue as early as 2024.  

The group is scheduled to host a further meeting with Justice Secretary Robert Buckland and Health Secretary Matt Hancock in the coming weeks.

Last week, a Ballot Bill on Assisted Dying was last week allocated seventh place in line to be debated, and will be introduced to the House of Lords on 26 May 26th. However it is not certain that the Bill will reach the House of Commons.

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said: “At a time when the Government claims to be so occupied with saving lives, it is startling that its Health Secretary has seen fit to begin a renewed push for assisted death, despite the constant previous rejection of a change in the law, as recently as 2015. The formation of the APPG for Dying Well last month has clearly come at just the right time”.

“As the APPG Chair, Danny Kruger, has already pointed out, this legislation almost always expands, and thus places some of the most vulnerable members of society in a position at risk of being pressured into their own death”.

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Help fight major assisted suicide and abortion up to birth threats.

Dear reader,

Despite the Leadbeater assisted-suicide Bill passing its Third Reading on 20 June, it scraped through by just 23 votes (314-291) after enjoying a 55-vote majority at Second Reading. Had 12 more MPs switched sides, the Bill would be dead. It now limps into the Lords with a wafer-thin majority, where peers can amend, delay or reject it outright.

THE CHALLENGE

Dignity in Dying, My Death My Decision and Humanists UK have poured millions into pushing assisted suicide and will fight hard to stop the Lords overturning the Bill.

At the same time, the Antoniazzi abortion-up-to-birth amendment, passed by MPs in June, also heads to the Lords. If it becomes law, it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason – including sex-selective purposes – and at any point up to and during birth.

We will be up against the UK’s largest abortion providers, BPAS and MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes), who are expected to push for even more extreme changes to our abortion laws in the Lords.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Thousands of vulnerable lives are now at stake. Battling these two threats is the biggest and most expensive effort in our history, and has drained our limited resources. To fight effectively on both fronts, we aim to raise £200,000 by midnight this Sunday (13 July 2025).

Every donation, large or small, will help protect lives, and UK taxpayers can add 25p to every £1 through Gift Aid at no extra cost.

Will you make a donation now to help protect vulnerable lives from these major threats?

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to protect vulnerable lives

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help fight major assisted suicide and abortion up to birth threats.