A coalition of disabled and terminally ill campaigners has written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham calling for social and palliative care to be overhauled before any assisted dying law is passed in England and Wales. The group, Assist Us To Live, warns that people are currently "failed by society" and that introducing assisted dying under present conditions would endanger sick and disabled people. The letter arrives ahead of a fresh Commons debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, scheduled for 11 September 2026.
Burnham has previously said funding for palliative and social care needs to be "fixed" before lawmakers turn to assisted dying, a position reported earlier this year, when he first signalled he would not personally support the legislation even though the government intends to stay officially neutral. According to a national newspaper, Burnham reiterated on 29 July 2026 that this is "a position that I will stick to," arguing the debate should wait until care funding issues are resolved.
Labour MP Lauren Edwards, who is steering the bill, reintroduced the legislation in June 2026 after an earlier version, championed by fellow Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, cleared the Commons in 2025 but stalled in the House of Lords amid an unprecedented volume of proposed amendments, running out of parliamentary time by April 2026. Edwards has described her effort as an attempt to "finish the job" left unresolved by that earlier bill.
What does the letter to Burnham say?
The letter argues that disabled and terminally ill people are currently denied basic autonomy over daily life, which creates pressure toward premature death rather than genuine choice.
"At the moment, sick and disabled people, including terminally ill people, are denied choice over the most basic of things: our ability to get out of bed, wash, eat, leave our houses or manage our pain."
"This creates a coercive environment where people will choose an earlier death simply because they are being failed by society."
"Put simply, introducing assisted dying in these circumstances will put sick and disabled people's lives at risk."
"No one wants any terminally ill person to suffer unnecessarily at death. But we must protect the lives and rights of disabled and terminally ill people in life."
Signatories include comedian Rosie Jones and actors Liz Carr and Ruth Madeley, alongside dozens of other prominent disabled figures from the arts, media and academia. The letter calls for increased palliative care funding, abolition of the social care savings threshold for working-age adults, and pay parity between social care and NHS staff, so that no one feels compelled to end their life due to inadequate medical support.
How is the disability rights regulator responding?
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has previously flagged concerns that the legislation could disproportionately affect certain groups, particularly older and disabled people. Its chair, Baroness Falkner, said last year:
"While the bill provides safeguards against a person being coerced or pressured to end their own life by another individual, we know that disabled people, older people and especially older disabled people, may feel pressured to prematurely end their lives by societal attitudes and a lack of the support and services they need."
Kyla Harris, who co-created and starred in the television comedy series We Might Regret This, which explores disabled life, said disabled and terminally ill people require structural and social support to live, not assistance to die. Harris, originally from Canada, became tetraplegic and dependent on round-the-clock care after a spinal cord injury at age 15, just as she was approaching independence.
"We are treating people like animals who need to be put down."
"The money you put into trying to get this bill through takes away from the social services, making palliative care more accessible for people so that they can die in their homes."
Why do some campaigners support the bill anyway?
Not all those affected by terminal illness oppose the legislation. Pamela Fisher, who has terminal breast cancer, argues that demanding perfection in care systems before legalising assisted dying sets an unreasonable bar.
"[There is an] unhelpful perception that both social care and end-of-life care need to be 'sorted' before we can properly consider the possibility of legalising assisted dying in the UK. This sets an impossible standard."
"The reality is that social care and end-of-life care will always be works in progress, rather than systems that can ever be declared perfect once and for all."
Fisher, a Church of England lay preacher and academic based in Huddersfield, maintains that ongoing efforts to reform care services should continue but insists that their imperfection should not, by itself, justify denying terminally ill people control over the manner of their death. Andrew Copson, chief executive of Humanists UK, which backs changing the law, said he hopes MPs will look past what he called renewed attempts to derail a long-overdue reform.
How would the proposed law actually work?
Under the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, adults aged 18 or over in England and Wales who are expected to die within six months could seek help to end their own life, subject to safeguards; having a disability alone would not qualify someone for assistance. According to a report from a national newspaper, approval would require sign-off from two doctors and an expert panel. Edwards has pointed out that a four-year implementation period, already agreed during earlier debates, would give the government time to strengthen end-of-life care before any assisted dying service takes effect, a timeline confirmed by the same report.
Speaking on the tension between care reform and the bill, Burnham said, according to a European news outlet, that it is "very challenging" to open a wider debate on assisted dying while people are not receiving adequate care and lack "peace of mind" about the support available to them.
What happens next?
The reintroduced bill is due to return to the House of Commons on 11 September 2026 for its next debate, according to the same newspaper report. Edwards has pledged to push the bill through again in hopes that MPs will back it a second time, following its earlier collapse in the Lords. Campaigners on both sides of the debate are expected to intensify lobbying of MPs in the weeks before the vote.
Key Facts
- Assist Us To Live's open letter to Andy Burnham has been signed by dozens of disabled figures, including Rosie Jones, Liz Carr and Ruth Madeley.
- The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would apply to adults aged 18+ expected to die within six months, requiring approval from two doctors and an expert panel.
- The bill previously passed the Commons in 2025 but failed to clear the Lords before running out of parliamentary time in April 2026.
- Lauren Edwards reintroduced the bill in June 2026 with a four-year implementation period built in.
- The Commons is due to debate the bill again on 11 September 2026.
