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HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)First, I will speak to amendments 9 and 10, then to amendment 234, and then to my own amendments 48 and 402. I hope it is in order to note that the hon. Member for South…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I agree very strongly with the sentiments expressed by my hon. Friends the Members for Spen Valley and for Penistone and Stocksbridge, and I hope that the Committee can later…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I thank my hon. Friend, and my hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge, for making it clear that they would not vote for the amendment. I also thank the hon. Member…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I agree that we did hear that, but we did not hear from experts in the Bill, and at that point it was not discussed. While I acknowledge my hon. Friend’s point that we did speak…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)The crux for me is that at Second Reading, when the Bill was voted on, many Members cited that one of the central planks to that debate at the time was the six-month prognosis.…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)It is absolutely what is guiding me. I am sure we all know people who were told that they had six months to live and have lived a lot longer. We have heard stories of people who…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. Actually, there is nothing in the Bill that suggests that. We can only imagine and try to empathise as much as we possibly can with…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. If we take that 30% to 40% figure, and the figure—she might correct me if I am wrong here, and I am happy to be corrected—that there…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I thank the right hon. Member for his intervention, but my understanding is that the judge found that those individuals lacked capacity to make decisions about their treatment;…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I thank the right hon. Member for his intervention. I have talked about that case, and the court concluded: “The prospects of her recovery overall approach zero… Given that it is…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)The hon. Member talks about the amendment being probing. Does he know why we went for six months? Was it was based on research? I am not sure whether he is aware or can help me…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)Does the hon. Member agree that one point that is really important in this afternoon’s debate is that a person has a right to refuse treatment, and indeed food and water, if they…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech, and I agree with what he says about autonomy. As I said earlier, autonomy does not necessarily have to lead to pain, and it could be…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)Will my hon. Friend give way?25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)In the cases that went before the court, the judges, in nine out of 10 cases, found that all those young ladies did indeed have capacity to refuse their food, and it was as a…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I apologise to my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland Central; I was actually incorrect. The girls did not have capacity, so he was correct. However, in the cases that went…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)Thank you, Mrs Harris. Sticking to the amendment, can I ask whether the Government will have already taken a position on it before I get to the end of my speech? Can they not…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)If we make philosophical and idealistic arguments, we will not be able to legislate on anything. Philosophically, there are people in this House who wear red, blue, green or the…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)Can I not ask for it now while we are in the debate?12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)Yes, Mrs Harris, I do want to push the amendment to a vote. In summary, the reference to “coerced or pressured” in clause 1 relates only to coercion or pressure by another person…12 Feb 2025