An empty choice
Last June, the House of Commons narrowly voted to pass the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. It has now moved to the House of Lords, with Lord Falconer of Thoroton its sponsor. Over the past 10 years the average length of a private member’s bill has been eight pages. This bill has 59. It’s not surprising that scrutiny is taking a long time.
Catholic features in The Tablet: assisted dying
Some supporters of the bill are now arguing that if it is not passed, the Lords will have “failed in its duty”. In fact, the constitutional duty of the House of Lords is precisely to scrutinise legislation, test assumptions and reject bills whose foundations are unclear or unsound. Passing a bill whose essential nature remains opaque would not fulfil that duty; it would abandon it.
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