Dying with Dignity Bill voted to committee stage

Dublin Mid West TD Gino Kenny’s Dying with Dignity Bill will now head into the committee stage after the Dail voted to pass it last night.

The bill, which will make assisted dying legal in limited circumstances, was passed by 81 votes to 71.

The motion would allow people with terminal illnesses to seek help in ending their life in order to avoid suffering.

Speaking following the vote, People Before Profit TD Kenny said he was delighted at the “amazing result.”

“Voluntary assisted dying should never be framed as an alternative to hospice or palliative care, which provides invaluable support for many, and which I fully support,” Deputy Kenny said.

“In fact, more resources for end of life care are urgently needed.

“The debate around assisted dying is not an easy conversation to have, but it is one that, as a more progressive society, we need to have.

Deputy Kenny also took to social media to thank fellow supporters of the motion, including CevicalCheck campaigner Vicky Phelen.

“Amazing result tonight.

“Thanks to all the TD’s who voted for the bill to proceed to committee stage.

“Thanks to the the amazing Vicky Phelan, Tom Curran and Gail O’Rorke for their support.

“Sometimes issues like this transcend politics.

“This was the occasion.”

Following last night’s vote, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Rt Rev Dr David Bruce, has said he is ‘deeply disappointed and gravely concerned’ at the failure by TDs to reject the ‘Dying with Dignity Bill’.

“This debate addresses matters of the deepest sensitivity,” Dr Bruce said.

“Two years ago members of our General Assembly, attending from across Ireland, discussed this matter and voted to oppose any legislation which allowed for assisted suicide, or euthanasia in these islands.

“At the same time, we strongly commended palliative care and called on the governments in both jurisdictions to ensure adequate resourcing of research and delivery in this important area.

“We make that call again today, agreeing with the HSE that the purpose of excellent palliative care is to ‘enhance quality of life’

“We are deeply disappointed and gravely concerned by last night’s vote.

“This Bill of course raises fundamental questions about the value that is placed on human life in Ireland, something that we firmly believe to be a gift from God.

“At the same time, we welcome the acknowledgement by the government, in its failed amendment to the Bill, that there is no human right to access assisted suicide.

“In due course, we hope that we will have an opportunity to express our significant anxieties about this legislation directly to TDs and Senators as it progresses through the Oireachtas.

“We look forward to contributing to the national debate from the perspective of a pastor’s care, and affirming that assisted suicide is not an expression of compassion for those already suffering.”