B

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 27 February 2026

Debate

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Contribution

May I intervene on that, given that my amendment is being questioned? Let me explain. When looking after people who are parents, a conversation is often about what the children know. Telling the children about someone’s impending death is extremely difficult for most parents. Usually, it is because the person who is ill wishes to protect those children; they think that, by not telling them and preparing them, they are somehow protecting them. The way children are informed needs to be age appropriate and appropriate to where that child is. I do not suggest in this amendment that it should be an agent of the state. The amendment refers to making “adequate arrangements for another person”. That could be anybody. It is about asking whether they have somebody who will inform those children—or not—about the death. As for bereavement support, it might simply be about telling them in person and letting them talk about it for an hour over a cup of tea, or it might be much longer, depending on the needs of the individual—because bereavement is a very individual thing as well. I am concerned that we could legislate and somehow believe that, by someone having an assisted death, rather than a death for which there has been preparation, the impact on any children in a family will be less, because the evidence is that it will not.

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