Assisted Suicide / Euthanasia

Press Statement – Family Education Trust Laments Commons Passing of Dangerous Assisted Suicide Bill

June 20, 2025

The Family Education Trust (FET) laments the passing of the dangerous ‘assisted dying’ Bill proposed by Kim Leadbeater MP at Third Reading by just 23 votes (less than half of the 55 vote majority it had at Second Reading). The Bill seeks to legalise assisted suicide in England and Wales for the first time, and in doing so would endanger the lives of vulnerable patients and undermine family life.

In his paper published in recent months, FET Director Peter D. Williams pointed to the evident dangers of this Bill and a similar but more extensive one proposed in the Holyrood Parliament in Scotland. Key concerns were that:

  • Evidence from Oregon, the assisted suicide model of which the Leadbeater Bill is following, shows that ‘eligibility criteria’ have over time led to applications for assisted suicide for normally non-terminal conditions such as anorexia, diabetes, hernias, and arthritis, due to their becoming ‘artificially terminal’ by human action or inaction rather than the inevitable progression of the disease. The vote in favour came after the Commons rejected an amendment which would have attempted to close this ‘anorexia loophole’.

  • The risk of that occurring in the UK is worsened by the potential for doctor-shopping amongst a minority of doctors who would be providing an assisted suicide service, who would be by definition those with the fewest qualms and least scruples about doing so.

  • For more ‘ordinary’ cases, even six-month prognoses are in any case very unreliable, and the danger exists that hundreds if not thousands of people would have their lives ended prematurely, even by a matter of years, if these Bills were passed into law.

  • The Bill is based on a system of procedural gatekeeping whereby the patient seeking to procure an assisted suicide would make two declarations followed by ‘periods of reflection’ (altogether 21 days in one Bill and 7 days or less in the other) and two doctors would assess that they are making an autonomous decision free of duress, in the case of the Leadbeater Bill including an ‘Assisted Dying Review Panel’ to confirm that the procedure has been followed. Nothing however establishes how the doctors would know (certainly in 3 weeks or less) how to detect undue pressure or coercion in the patient, even with psychological training. As such, the inclusion of a Panel would only be an added layer of bureaucracy without any ability to safeguard patients.

These and other public safety concerns have led to the Royal Colleges of Pathologists and Psychiatrists, the British Geriatric Society, coalitions of doctors and eating disorder charities, and many others to oppose this legislation. The FET joins them and those campaigning for the welfare of the elderly, the disabled, the chronically and mentally ill, and all those whom this Bill endangers.

Peter D Williams, FET Director said:

‘The Third Reading vote in favour of the Leadbeater Bill means it will likely become law and cause the premature death of thousands of people whose personal autonomy is at its weakest due to their physical and mental condition. After months of having been exposed as a dangerous piece of legislation, that the Commons has voted this through is incredibly irresponsible and deplorable.

Along with the appalling passage of the amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that removed all penalties for women who abort their unborn child up to the point just before birth, this week marks an historic point where our governing class have, to their profound shame, lamentably put the cult of ‘choice’ above safeguarding and the welfare of the most vulnerable members of our society and the human family.’

END

Notes to Editors:

  • Any part of the above can be quoted as coming from our Director, Peter D. Williams.

  • The Family Education Trust is a national educational trust which researches the causes and consequences of family breakdown. It has no political or religious affiliations and is funded entirely by voluntary donations. FET conducts evidence-based academic research, always seeking to identify the underlying causes of social problems and giving particular time and attention to a wide range of areas that affect the stability of the family and the welfare of children and young people. It then uses the research for the purposes of informing, educating, influencing and supporting policymakers, educators, parents and the wider public. FET celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021. 

  • For further information please contact our Communications and PR Officer, Lucy Marsh, at: