British photographer Rankin has released a series of videos featuring terminally ill individuals, urging MPs to revive the stalled assisted dying bill in England and Wales. The campaign, in collaboration with Dignity in Dying, comes ahead of Thursday's private member's bill ballot.
Rankin's Personal Connection
Rankin's involvement began in December 2023 when he met Paola Marra, a 53-year-old former music industry and charity worker with terminal bowel cancer, at a pop-up studio in London's Carnaby Street. Marra was preparing to end her life at Dignitas in Switzerland. Her portrait, giving the finger to cancer, and a subsequent video of her final goodbye were released after her death in March 2024, becoming powerful campaign tools.
The New Campaign Videos
One of the 60-second films, titled Time to Back the Bill Again, features eight terminally ill individuals aged 19 to 77. They share their stories and call for end-of-life choice and democratic accountability. The video opens with the line, 'Yep. I'm terminal,' and ends with the message: 'Together, we can finish what we started. It's time to back the bill again.'
Rankin noted the participants' diverse backgrounds but common frustration: 'They don't understand why this bill hasn't been passed. They don't understand why it's been stopped.' He argued it makes no sense to block a law that would allow people to 'take their lives into their own hands in a responsible and dignified way.'
Public Support and Polling
Dignity in Dying released new Opinium polling showing strong public backing: 69% believe parliament should continue debating the bill until a decision is reached, and 61% think the government should ensure enough time for MPs and peers to vote on it.
Personal Stories
Barbara Shooter, 69, who appears in the videos, drove her husband Adrian to Dignitas in 2022 after motor neurone disease (MND) took his mobility and speech. She described his death as 'calm and peaceful.' Four years later, she herself was diagnosed with MND. She expressed fury at the 'shocking' behaviour of Lords who blocked the bill, saying, 'Who wants to face horror and pain and awfulness at the end of their life when you know you're not going to get better? Some might be perfectly content to let nature take its course. It's their choice. And I want my choice.'
Maddie Cowey, 28, diagnosed with ultra-rare alveolar soft part sarcomas at age 18, now has over 30 sarcoma nodules across both lungs. She said, 'Having the alternative of being able to choose how and when it happens would give me a lot of peace and hope.' She hopes the videos show 'we're real people' and highlight the urgency.
Political Context
The assisted dying bill, introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, passed the House of Commons but stalled in the House of Lords last month due to approximately 1,200 amendments tabled by a handful of peers. The campaign calls on MPs to 'back the bill again' as they prepare for the private member's bill ballot.
Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, stated: 'Every week, dying people are left with the same cruel options: suffer, travel abroad to die, or act alone. This is bigger than assisted dying. MPs voted for compassion. Unelected peers with their own agenda tore down our democratic principles. Parliament has unfinished business, and it's time for MPs to return the bill to Westminster and finish what they started.'
