{"id":485133,"date":"2026-03-20T03:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T03:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/485133\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T03:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T03:12:08","slug":"she-didnt-want-that-pain-paola-marras-brother-despairs-of-lords-block-on-assisted-dying-bill-assisted-dying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/485133\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018She didn\u2019t want that pain\u2019: Paola Marra\u2019s brother despairs of Lords block on assisted dying bill | Assisted dying"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two years after Paola Marra, on the eve of her death, appealed to politicians to change the law on assisted dying, the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill is stuck in the House of Lords<\/a>. For her brother, the second anniversary of her death will be spent protesting outside parliament.<\/p>\n

Marra died aged 53 on 20 March 2024. She documented her solo journey from north London to Dignitas in Switzerland in photographs and a short film<\/a> by the photographer Rankin<\/a>, released posthumously, as well as in a powerful interview with the Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Canadian-born former music industry and charity worker ended her life after suffering with terminal breast and bowel cancer. She told the Guardian: \u201cI\u2019m not scared to die. I\u2019m scared of dying in pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said it would be \u201cinsane\u201d if the practice was not legalised in the UK, adding it had cost \u00a315,000 and for people unable to afford that the law \u201cwill force them to endure a painful death, or drive them to take their own lives\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tony Marra, 57, has flown from Canada to join terminally ill and bereaved campaigners to mark the anniversary in Parliament Square on Friday, organised by the campaign group Dignity in Dying<\/a>. They aim to highlight what they describe as the \u201cfilibustering\u201d of the bill for England and Wales by a small number of peers.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, members of the Scottish parliament voted 69 to 57<\/a> against legalising assisted dying.<\/p>\n

Marra is despairing. \u201cIt\u2019s shocking that there\u2019s just a handful of peers blocking progress in allowing compassionate assisted dying,\u201d he told the Guardian. \u201cIt\u2019s too late for Paola, but I\u2019m thinking of her friends with terminal illnesses. And they want change in the law and they want the choice if it comes to that and they are in too much pain and want control over their suffering.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is frustrating [because] the majority of people want it \u2013 the public and politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having been passed by MPs<\/a> in the Commons in a free vote by a majority of 55<\/a> last year, the bill, which would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales expected to die within six months to seek help to end their own life, has stalled in the Lords and looks likely to run out of time and thus fail. Peers are at the committee stage, which is a line-by-line review where amendments they submit are debated and voted on.<\/p>\n

More than 1,200 amendments have been tabled, principally from opponents of the bill. Only three days of debate remain before the king\u2019s speech in May, with about half of the amendments yet to be discussed.<\/p>\n

Marra had wanted to travel to Zurich with his sister. They planned to \u201chave a few days in Switzerland eating great chocolate\u201d before her death, but she decided she must go alone, fearing legal consequences for him.<\/p>\n

She knew her suffering and pain was increasing with the disease. \u201cShe didn\u2019t want that pain and those side-effects,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, and here\u2019s the real kicker, because she had to travel to Switzerland alone, it actually cost her two or three months of her life because she had to be well enough to travel solo. She had to go earlier. So it cost her another visit from me, it cost her time with her friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI think the people opposed to the bill, they see it as an ugly thing, picking a time and place where you will die. But it actually can be beautiful. That\u2019s what a lot of people miss. It can be beautiful \u2013 people you most love around you in your final hours with control. It always comes back to control, I think. After a disease has ravaged you for years, to actually say: \u2018Well no, in my final days I\u2019m the one that\u2019s in control, not this disease.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He has written to MPs and peers, telling them his sister\u2019s story. \u201cI get a little choked up thinking about it \u2013 her leading with the heart, and a personal story, a human story I think that really resonates more than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 100 Labour MPs have urged Keir Starmer to ensure there is time for a decision to be reached, but it appears that is unlikely<\/a>. Opinion polls consistently record public support in the UK of around three-quarters in favour of assisted dying with strict controls. But opponents of legalisation fear it could increase pressure on some vulnerable people to end their own lives.<\/p>\n

Sarah Wootton, the chief executive of Dignity in Dying, said: \u201cPaola\u2019s death has a lasting legacy. Her voice \u2013 and those of so many dying people and families \u2013 have changed this debate for ever. But people are still having to make the same impossible journeys, facing the same impossible choices that Paola did.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat will continue until parliament is allowed a final say on the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill. Parliament has started to answer their pleas for change. Now they must finish the job, and government must make sure that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two years after Paola Marra, on the eve of her death, appealed to politicians to change the law…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-485133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}