Assisted dying campaigners delivered a powerful message to the House of Lords as they gathered for the UK’s largest ever public demonstration in support of assisted dying. The show of strength was held in support of the historic bill that has been stalled in the House of Lords. Widow Louise Shackleton, who accompanied her husband Antony, 59, to Dignitas in Switzerland in 2024, declared that the peers "should hang their heads in shame."
Bill Stalled by Amendments
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was passed by the House of Commons on June 20, 2025. However, since arriving in the Lords, it has been blocked from progressing by a small minority who raised more than 1,200 amendments, including a requirement for pregnancy tests for both men and women. Dying in Dignity stated that despite polls showing nearly 8 in 10 public support, a small number of opposed peers have filibustered, deliberately running the bill out of time to pass this parliamentary session. The bill would give terminally ill, mentally competent adults with six months to live the choice of an assisted death.
Campaigners Speak Out
Louise Shackleton, a mother of three from North Yorkshire, said in an interview with The Mirror: "How dare these ten disgraced peers look society in the face and say they care about dying people, they should hang their heads in shame. How dare they put their belief systems above the care and compassion that should be shown to people who have been promised an agonising death by their diseases. They have cost our country not only humanity but also millions of pounds in the games they are playing." She added that the Lords have played such games before, referencing the Hunting Act and the 2022 Parliament Act used to ban hunting trophy imports.
Louise travelled to London on Friday to be outside the House of Lords on the final day of the bill, but said each trip has been a "struggle." She explained: "I feel physically sick at the thought of going to face them. Knowing that some of them had a sweepstake on who could submit the most amendments. This shows the gutter level these people will stoop to have their own way due to their religious beliefs." She noted that she has witnessed peers say, "Nobody should decide how somebody dies except for God," but questioned: "What gives them the right to force their beliefs on 87 per cent of the British public?"
Monument to Dignity and Choice
The protest outside Parliament Square featured four terminally ill women standing on plinths, planning their "monument to dignity and choice" as supporters called on MPs to bring back the assisted dying bill in the next Parliament. Dying in Dignity said an empty plinth marked those like music teacher and campaigner Nathaniel Dye, who died of terminal bowel cancer earlier this year. Sophie Blake, Elise Burns, Pamela Fisher, and Christie Arntsen stood strong to send a message to the Lords despite each living with a terminal diagnosis.
Personal Stories of Suffering
Sophie Blake, 53, was diagnosed with stage four secondary breast cancer in May 2022. Her cancer is currently dormant but could return at any time. She knows she could be forced to suffer at the end, especially since she is allergic to opioids, which many palliative care drugs contain. Sophie, a Sky Sports and BBC TV presenter from Brighton, does not want her 16-year-old daughter Maya to remember her suffering. She said: "I've seen people suffer and I've heard from their relatives how they've suffered and it's cruel and it's not necessary because people don't need to die in such a horrendous undignified way."
Elise Burns, 52, has secondary cancer of the lungs, liver and bones that has been 'eating away' at her body, leaving her in constant pain. She wants the law to change to prevent thousands more dying people from being forced to suffer, including herself. Elise has already beaten her two-year prognosis and is desperate to save others from a drawn-out and horrific death.
Christie Arntsen, 58, has lived with incurable metastatic breast cancer for more than a decade, and it has just returned for the fifth time. Her only treatment now is chemotherapy, and she feels 'robbed' by peers and is "absolutely mortified." She said: "If I had known that assisted dying was an option, a weight would have been lifted from my mind for the last 10 years. I believe that I am the perfect example of how stringent the rules for assisted dying would be under the proposed law. Two doctors and a judge would have to agree that a person has a terminal diagnosis (a life expectancy of 6 months or less) and that the person has the mental capacity to choose to take life-ending medication. Following these rules, at no time in the last 10 years would I have been able to choose to have an assisted death because at no point was I given a prognosis of less than 6 months." She added that her only option is Dignitas, which would mean dying earlier to ensure she is well enough to travel. The mother of two, who lives near Witney, said some peers have 'blinders on.'
Pamela Fisher, 64, from Huddersfield, has terminal breast cancer that has spread to her bones and is now a wheelchair user. As a Church of England lay preacher, Pamela believes that Christian compassion is entirely compatible with choice at the end of life. The fear of dying in pain and discomfort has been keeping her awake at night. She said: "I don't want to die, not now. I love life and I want to live. But that said, I live in terror at the prospect of how my final weeks of life could turn out. I know that even with the best palliative care available, there are limits to what can be done. It's a dead weight of fear I carry around with me."
Political Support
Kim Leadbeater MP, the bill’s sponsor, and Sarah Wootton, Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying, addressed the demonstration. Ms Leadbeater, along with those with personal experience of the harms of the blanket ban, handed in local petitions to No. 10 Downing Street at 2pm.
