As Parliament approaches prorogation, expected on 30th April ahead of local elections and the new session beginning with the King’s Speech on 13th May, the Assisted Suicide Bill has failed to progress through the House of Lords.
The Bill has fallen. In the end, it was not a dramatic vote that halted the Bill, but the quiet, immovable force of parliamentary time. Alarmed by the bill’s many shortcomings, peers tabled thousands of amendments. There was simply not enough time to debate all their concerns.
Legislation must pass through all required stages before prorogation. This Bill did not. With the parliamentary session closing, it simply falls away.
No shortcuts. No last-minute manoeuvres. The House of Lords exists, in part, to ensure that serious and irreversible measures are not rushed. Assisted suicide is precisely that kind of measure, final, weighty, and impossible to undo.
Time has done what we prayed it would do: it has slowed the process enough to stop this ungodly measure.
Eccl 8:8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and There is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it. (KJV)
Bill’s supporters furious
The BBC reports the bill’s supporters are furious:
‘Labour MP Kim Leadbeater who introduced the bill in the Commons, said there was a “real sense of sadness and sorrow” at its failure to pass.
‘However, she insisted there was “appetite” for the legislation to return and said she was “confident” it would do so.
‘Speaking at a news conference after the bill fell, she argued that peers in the House of Lords had held up the legislation adding: “This isn’t what democracy looks like”.’
Not in any party manifesto
‘(Mrs) Leadbeater said there were MPs willing to take the same bill on during the next session should they be successful in the Private Members’ Bill ballot, which allow MPs to propose legislation and can guarantee debating time on Friday sittings.
‘Supporters of assisted dying say they have so many MPs lined up they are confident it will come back in the next session. One told the BBC more than 100 are ready – and another 100 could be persuaded.’
However, Tanni, Baroness Grey-Thompson said the bill, which she opposed, failed as there were “tonnes of holes in it” and it had arrived in the Lords with a “very clear message” from MPs to make improvements. Watch Tanni on on Good Morning Britain.
It is possible the Parliament Acts could be used to prevent peers blocking the legislation again, but this procedure was last used in 2004 to push through a ban on fox hunting. It has never been used for a private member’s bill. It is also possible another dozen or so Mps will change their minds if the matter does come back and vote the bill down. And despite Kim Leadbeater’s pleas to ‘democracy’, this monstrosity was in no party manifesto.
Overseas illustrates dangers
Meanwhile, across the pond, the obvious practical dangers are becoming more and more visible …
Oregon becomes euthanasia travel hub,
A Canadian Psychiatrist tells MPs depression is an OK reason for euthanasia,
Look also at Belgium, Colombia, Netherlands and Australia.
READ: Gen 9:6; Exod 20:13, 21:12-14; Lev 19:32; Deut 27:25, 30:15,19; 1Sam 31:4; 2Sam 1:9; Prov 14:12 (cf 16:25), 31:6; Eccl 8:8.
Support us!
We appreciate your support; it enables our research and helps us inform your prayers.
So click below to support Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings
Click on the social media links below to share this post:
