Assisted dying bill vital, says mum who fears children will never forgive her for hiding Dignitas trip with their dad

Assisted dying bill vital, says mum who fears children will never forgive her for hiding Dignitas trip with their dad Louise Shackleton and her husband flew to Switzerland to escape Antony suffering a horrifying death but here she reveals how she is still haunted by the pain it caused their children. A widow who travelled to Dignitas with her terminally ill husband is urging MPs to vote for the assisted dying bill, explaining: “Our children will never forgive us for lying to them”. It’s been two years since Louise Shackleton, 59, from North Yorkshire travelled to Switzerland with Antony, 59, who went to escape a torturous death from Motor Neurone Disease. But as the historic bill returns to the House of Commons for a second time she is pleading with politicians to think of families like hers, pleading with them: “Be brave, vote for the bill". MPs will on Friday vote on landmark plans to legalise assisted dying - months after a former bid ran out of time to become law. Labour MP Lauren Edwards has brought forward a bill which is identical to the previous legislation spearheaded by Kim Leadbeater. It would allow terminally ill people in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to seek an assisted death, subject to approval by doctors and legal professionals. Ms Leadbeater’s legislation was effectively talked out of time in the Lords in Parliament's last session, despite MPs taking the historic step to pass it in the Commons. A small number of peers faced criticism for deliberately trying to block the bill by tabling an unprecedented number of amendments. More than 1,200 amendments were put forward, with more than 800 of those tabled or sponsored by seven peers. They insist they were scrutinising the legislation. Polling over the weekend showed six in 10 people support the return of the assisted dying Bill to Parliament. Although another revealed the vote was on a knife-edge with the majority of the 100 backbench MPs quizzed having reservations about it. Of 1,133 people aged 16-75 surveyed at the end of August, 61% said they supported the reintroduction of the Bill, Ipsos found. Keir Starmer previously voted in favour of the law change but new PM Andy Burnham has already confirmed he will abstain from the vote, so as not to "unduly influence the debate". Since her husband died in Dignitas, Louise has been campaigning for the bill and on the eve of the latest vote, told The Mirror: “Going with my husband to Dignitas and having to lie to our children was one of the most upsetting things that we both had to do. I don’t think our children will ever forgive us for doing that as they would have wanted to be with him no matter what the consequences would have been for them." The couple flew to Switzerland in December 2024 and Louise returned to the UK days later, alone and a widow. She told how she was haunted by memories of having to tell their children their dad had died. “I was on my own in an Uber after holding my husband’s dead body and then had to ring them to tell them their father had died. I think about those phone calls all the time, I am traumatised by them. To hear them breaking their hearts and I could not hold them and comfort them," she told The Mirror. “But their immediate concern was that I was on my own in a strange country, vulnerable and broken, knowing that the police would be knocking on my door when I returned and I would be persecuted by an act of love.” Mrs Shackleton spent 10 months under investigation for assisting a suicide before police announced that the Crown Prosecution Service had decided it was not in the public interest to prosecute her. She added: “Knowing that he would have had a choice of an assisted death at home would have kept the family together. We could have all been with him in his final moments. We could have comforted each other after he died and he could have been in his own home. “We would have known who the undertaker was who cared for him (in Zurich), we could have expressed my husband’s wishes to the undertaker. As it was I had to leave his body to god knows who to care for him and to look after him. “His ashes were returned to me about two weeks later on the 19th December. It was the most distressing Christmas present anyone could ever get. He was returned to me in a cardboard box after having to pay an English undertaker to go and collect him from Zurich.” In a final plea she added: “As usual the people that oppose assisted dying are bringing all their straw men arguments. We need to be honest and we need to be open, coercion is a behaviour, that behaviour does not manifest itself because of a change in the law. “As it stands at the moment people at risk of coercion are at risk of taking their lives at home un-safeguarded, if they’ve slipped through the net. “The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill actually puts the safeguard in place for those people at risk. Every one of you has a choice because you have the wealth. Please be human, do the right thing and give the general public the choice that you have. Her comments follow a poll which suggests the second reading assisted dying vote is on a knife-edge. The poll found just over a third of MPs back Lauren Edwards’ controversial assisted dying bill as currently drafted after a survey of 100 backbench MPs, commissioned by Care Not Killing. It found that just 37 per cent support the Bill as it stands, while nearly two-thirds, 63 per cent, or have reservations about how it is currently drafted. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he would abstain from the vote after declaring the focus should be on fixing palliative and social care. His comments came after a YouGov poll in May 2025, which revealed three quarters of the public quizzed supported the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. It found 73% of people said they would support law change as proposed in the Bill. Dignity in Dying told those quizzed about the background to the bill. Only terminally ill adults with mental capacity would be eligible. Each request would be assessed by two independent doctors. An application would be reviewed by a multi-disciplinary panel (including legal and psychosocial expertise). The life-ending medication must be self-administered. Lauren Edwards, writing in the Guardian, said: “On Friday, I will be asking MPs to send the bill back to the Lords. There they can amend the bill if they choose, just like any legislation, and if the Commons agrees, that’s fine. But they should not be allowed to frustrate the will of the elected chamber a second time. “I am not reopening divisions in the Labour party or in parliament, as some have claimed. Exactly the reverse is true. MPs have already made their decision. In a democracy, we settle our differences by voting on them. Last time, opponents in the Lords prevented a vote taking place on the bill’s provisions. “The voters put us here to tackle the big issues they care about, not to constantly kick them down the road. After a shaky start, this parliament has the chance to show that it can deliver; that we won’t shirk our responsibilities and will start to restore the public’s faith in our democratic system.” In June last year (2025), MPs voted by 314 in favour of the legislation to 291 against - a slim majority of 23. This was a drop in support from a majority of 55 to support the principle of changing the law at a vote held in November. Supporters of the bill fear momentum might have been lost further, with some opposing MPs having suggested they are more confident they have won the argument this time around. Critics of the legislation have raised concerns about protections for the vulnerable against coercion and the safeguarding of people with mental health issues. Others have called for improved access and funding of palliative care before assisted dying is considered. But former lead MP campaigner Ms Leadbeater said the plans will ensure “strict safeguards”. Writing for The Mirror, she said: “We have let down terminally ill people and their loved ones for far too long. All they are asking for is choice.” On the opposing side, Labour MP Ashley Dalton, who has terminal breast cancer, said end of life care is “simply not good enough”. “I have a terminal cancer that will kill me, so this is not a hypothetical debate for me,” she told The Mirror. “There can be no meaningful choice if people’s options are continued suffering or an assisted death.”