Dame Esther says 'I'm fighting for my family and others' as MPs debate assisted dying

Indomitable Dame Esther Rantzen says she is “fighting for my family and lots of others”, as MPs are set to hold a landmark parliamentary debate on assisted dying.

The Westminster Hall event was triggered by an Express petition supporting the Childline founder’s call for greater end-of-life choice.

Dame Esther, who has stage four lung cancer, said the crucial debate would “give everyone a chance to listen to and learn from each other”. She added: “It’s a very complicated issue and everyone’s case is a bit different.

“But at the moment there are families who dread having to watch someone they love begging to have their life ended and not being able to help them.

“It’s dreadful. Those memories outlive happy ones, they act as a sort of barrier. I am fighting for my family and I believe I am probably fighting for a lot of other families too.”

More than 205,000 people signed our petition urging the Government to make time for assisted dying to be discussed and voted on in the House of Commons.

The Ministry of Justice will respond during the debate on Monday, which is expected to last for around three hours.

Dame Esther, 83, joined the campaign to change the law in December after revealing she had registered with Dignitas.

She spoke about her fear that her loved ones would face a criminal investigation if they accompanied her to the assisted dying clinic in Zurich, Switzerland.

The That’s Life presenter, who plans to watch the debate from home, said: “I want people who disagree with it to come or to watch the debate so that they can hear all the arguments for and against.

“I hope they will take account of all the arguments and bear in mind that we want to offer them the choice, but we feel they should offer us the choice too.

“If they are healthcare professionals, no one is going to force them to bump me off. But on the other hand, I don’t want to be forced to live longer than I want to.”

Dame Esther said it was particularly important for medics working in end-of-life care to understand that legalising assisted dying would not devalue their profession.

She said: “I do think that very often, one of their reasons [for opposing it] is that they think it would replace palliative care and undermine what they do.

“We now have evidence from the countries that have legalised assisted dying, carefully regulated, that it has a positive effect on palliative care which improves.”

The historic meeting in the second debating chamber of the House of Commons will be opened by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi.

She also opened the last assisted dying debate in Westminster Hall in July 2022, which 38 MPs contributed to.

Ms Antoniazzi will pay tribute to the Express and Dame Esther for their “dedication and tenacity” in launching the petition.

She is expected to say: “The fact that in less than two years we have had two petitions debates on this subject clearly indicates that this issue is one our constituents are highly engaged in, and I have no doubt that Dame Esther Rantzen has contributed to a heightened awareness of assisted dying.

“Whatever our own views, we must recognise that public opinion on assisted dying has shifted drastically in one direction.”

Ms Antoniazzi told the Express the meeting was expected to be one of the most well-attended petition debates, which can have "great influence" even though they do not result in a vote and cannot directly change the law.

The Welsh MP said she hoped the Ministry of Justice would offer some reassurance for families in the position of Dame Esther’s.

A record in Hansard of a minister suggesting that loved ones facing this impossible decision are unlikely to face prosecution would be helpful, she explained.

Ms Antoniazzi acknowledged that there are “strong voices across the divide” and concerns about the unintended consequences of legalising assisted dying need to be very carefully considered.

But she added: “We have got to move this conversation forward. We have got to talk about death, assisted dying, dying well and people’s experiences.

“It should be everybody’s privilege to decide how they die if they’re terminally ill. It’s inhumane the way we treat people and I think we should have a choice.

“It is incumbent on us to discuss these things properly.” Demonstrations are planned in Westminster this afternoon by both pro- and anti- assisted dying groups.

MPs from across the political divide are expected to speak during the debate.

Alicia Kearns, Conservative MP for Rutland and Melton and chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said she believed "the time has come as a society to allow individuals to end their lives under supervision and with dignity in instances of interminable and irremediable suffering”.

She added: “I will support changes to the law which allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults to access assistance to end their lives, as long as upfront safeguards are put in place.

“Assisted dying is not about shortening life, but rather shortening suffering, and giving individuals the dignity to decide when and how they pass."

Ms Kearns added that the courts had made it clear the decision must rest with parliament, so "we need to step up and hold a vote".

Tory former cabinet minister Kit Malthouse said the strong response to the petition showed the “movement for change on assisted dying is growing by the day”.

He added: “The vast majority of the great British public can see there is no compassion in the law as it stands, and they want the most profound choice they might ever have to make in their own hands.

“If you don't like assisted dying, fine, don't use it, it's not compulsory, but please don't stop me from seeking a death without pain and degradation if I need it.”

Lib Dem Christine Jardine, MP for Edinburgh West, said she hoped to speak during the debate.

She said: “I have no idea what I would want to do in a situation where I was diagnosed with a terminal, deteriorating condition.

“But I would like to know that the choice of an assisted death or palliative care was mine. And I would not deny that right to choose to anyone else.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Our sympathies remain with the families and loved ones affected.

“Any change to the law in an area of such sensitivity and importance is for individual MPs to consider rather than a decision for Government.”