Assist Us To Live

Disabled and terminally ill people campaigning for our lives.

[Assist Us To Live @Assist_UsToLive]

Today we have published an open letter to MPs calling for them to prioritise social and palliative care reform before any assisted dying legislation is introduced --

Signed by 75 prominent disabled people, including Liz Carr, Ruth Madeley, & more.

Will you add your voice?

[Ashley Dalton MP @AshleyDalton_MP]

My full speech at the Assisted Dying Bill debate on Friday.

[Chris Channon MBE PLY @cpchris]

I've had the misfortune to have to be admitted to hospital fairly regularly due to an ongoing bowel issue and on each occasion, just before my discharge home, I am asked if I would agree to have a DNR notice put on my medical records.
I have refused and I have done so because I believe that if I required an emergency intervention it would be denied to me because of my disability.
If you're thinking that I'm talking rubbish then let me tell you that I once had a visit to my bedside by a ICU consultant who had nothing to do with my case who spent the best part of half an hour practically begging me to have a DNR!
Again, I refused and told him that despite everything I look forward to each and every day and appreciate the world and the people around me. I will go when I'm ready and not because some overworked medics decide that they want to play God.

[Not Dead Yet UK @TheNotDeadYetUK]

Great scenes outside Parliament today with @thelizcarr . It’s time for MPs to stop ignoring the concerns of disabled people and listen. 85% of the public agree that you should.
Some photos credit @paulapeters2
https://t.co/ZFF9BRpl9e

[Dr Zubir Ahmed MP @zubirahmed]

We voted down the Assisted Dying Bill today.

This is not a moment for celebration, but for reflection. Too many people fear death and dying because they anticipate suffering - in part because they cannot be confident they will receive the care they need.

If today is to be a positive day, we must all commit to doing better and to delivering world-class palliative care in every postcode.

My full speech on why I voted against the Assisted Dying Bill is below.👇

[The Other Half @OtherHalfOrg]

Never forget:

[Sky News @SkyNews]

Campaigner and actor Liz Carr reacted to MPs rejecting the assisted dying bill by stressing the importance of care at the end of someone's life. She added, "We need to do that first - then let's have a gown-up conversation about this [assisted dying]."

[Inclusion London @InclusionLondon]

We stand with @DisRightsUK and the wider user-led Disability justice movement in opposing the assisted dying bill. We hope MPs will make the right choice today. Assist us to live, not to die.

[Kevin Yuill @historykev]

Slightly immodest but I'm reposting this!

[Not Dead Yet UK @TheNotDeadYetUK]

And with the help from our friends and allies in, amongst others, @Dis_PPL_Protest @DisRightsUK @Assist_UsToLive @InclusionLondon @EoLWatch @OtherHalfOrg @thelizcarr @Tanni_GT

[Tanni Grey-Thompson @Tanni_GT]

Ummmm. If I got a pressure sore that didn’t heal you could easily get a 6 month diagnosis

[The Spectator @spectator]

Terminally ill Labour MP Ashley Dalton delivered a gut-wrenchingly powerful speech in the Commons today, imploring colleagues to vote against the Assisted Dying Bill.

Dalton, who has metastatic breast cancer, described how patients with terminal diagnoses are bombarded with terrifying accounts of painful deaths, even as their own agency is overlooked.

The former health minister urged MPs to improve palliative and social care rather than expose some of society’s most vulnerable people to the risk of coercion. With good palliative care, she insisted, ‘death can be gentle’.

✍️ Steerpike

Article | https://t.co/3mbkPeoVyw | @MrSteerpike

[Dan Hitchens @ddhitchens]

If there was one speech which swung it, it was this from @AshleyDalton_MP, who has stage 4 cancer and spoke so powerfully about how the bill failed the people it purported to serve:

[Assist Us To Live @Assist_UsToLive]

@Telegraph @CharlesHMoore @castleDD great photo!

[The Telegraph @Telegraph]

'This was the fourth unsuccessful attempt this century to allow people to get state help to kill themselves''

@CharlesHMoore argues 'there cannot be another in this Parliament. Surely there should not be another in this generation' 👇
https://t.co/V3jPIxieLH

[Nikki da Costa @nmdacosta]

This is very interesting and heartening

[Ashley Dalton MP @AshleyDalton_MP]

The Bill that was brought to us today was not safe.  If it had passed, vulnerable people would have been at very real risk of coercion into assisted dying or out of fear of being a burden.

We need to prioritise ensuring equal access to our world class palliative care.

[Social Care Today @SocialcareToday]

Assisted dying bill defeated in Commons vote

MPs have rejected legislation that would have allowed assisted dying for some terminally ill adults in England and Wales.

👉 https://t.co/5Z4qNewOxN #news @Assist_UsToLive #AssistedDying #government #MPs #health

[Kevin Yuill @historykev]

Our victory today is a huge and devastating blow to @dignityindying and @Humanists_UK. They have lost their arguments in a democratic contest and can never again use the spurious 'undemocratic Lords' line. The depths of their loss is difficult to overstate.
Make no mistake. This is a shot heard around the world. Will #assistedsuicide and #Euthanasia go the way of eugenics policies? Let's work to banish them everwhere

[Assist Us To Live @Assist_UsToLive]

We did it. MPs have voted NO today on assisted suicide, and we're breathing a big sigh of relief.

The work is far from over — we must now hold government accountable to fix the systems that assist us to live — but today, we rest. Thank you!
#AssistUsToLive

[Disability Rights UK @DisRightsUK]

Today outside Westminster @DisRightsUK joins Disabled people, MPs, and supporters to demonstrate against the assisted dying bill.