'I'm hopeful MPs will vote for assisted dying'

We're hearing from a Kent women with a terminal bone marrow cancer, who has told us she is 'hopeful' that MPs will legalise assisted dying.

On Friday, parliament are voting on the bill, which would legalise assisted dying. Currently, assisted suicide is banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

Suzie is from Sevenoaks and has Multiple Myeloma. Her father took his own life after also suffering from Cancer and she told us this bill means 'so much' to her. She said: "I think my father would be thrilled to bits and be proud, he would think it wonderful.

"It would have saved him from having to go through the torture that he did at the end of his and stop him from taking his own life due to the unbearable pain he was in.

"I have been campaigning now for over 10 years, along with many others, and I'm just hoping we get a resounding yes vote. If we don't, then we have to be prepared for defeat but I am hopeful and I think we have got a slim chance.

"Right now, it is touch and go but I am hoping MPs are keeping quiet and will be voting for this bill to go through because it is vitally important."

Pro-change campaigners Dignity in Dying say that assisted dying allows a person with a terminal condition the choice to control their death if they decide their suffering is unbearable.

They argue that, along with good care, dying people who are terminally ill and mentally competent adults deserve the choice to control the timing and manner of their death.

But the campaign group Care Not Killing uses the terms “assisted suicide” and “euthanasia”, and argues that the focus should be on “promoting more and better palliative care” rather than any law change.

They say legalising assisted dying could “place pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives for fear of being a financial, emotional or care burden upon others” and argue the disabled, elderly, sick or depressed could be especially at risk.