--- title: A prayer ahead of the second reading of the dangerous assisted suicide bill date: 2026-08-20T16:54:00+01:00 author: Alicia Edmund canonical_url: "https://www.eauk.org/what-we-do/prayer-centre/a-call-for-prayer-ahead-of-the-second-reading-of-the-dangerous-assisted-suicide-bill" section: Pages --- #### The Evangelical Alliance together with Affinity, CARE, Christian Concern, Christian Medical Fellowship and The Christian Institute are encouraging Christians to gather to pray ahead of a crucial vote in Westminster on Friday, 11 September Back in May, we shared an update on Labour MP Lauren Edward’s attempts to [resuscitate the issue of legalising assisted suicide in](https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/labour-mp-resuscitates-the-unsafe-assisted-dying-bill-but-why) England and Wales and introduced a private members bill. On Friday 11 September the Terminally Ill Adults End of Life Bill will receive its second reading, and we are collectively praying it will not be voted through. For the past two years we have seen attempts from politicians in Scotland, Isle of Man and England to introduce a bill to legalise assisted suicide which undermines respective health and social care funding and its ability to care and treat those nearing the end of life with compassion and dignity. The priority of parliament must be to invest in an underfunded social care sector and ensure high-quality palliative care is not determined by wealth or postcode. We have been somewhat encouraged to hear the prime minister, Andy Burnham, takes a similar view and in a recent media interview said: ​“Personally, I think there’s something that needs to happen first. That is the fixing of the funding of palliative care and social care.” As six organisations coming together, we are collectively encouraging Christians and local churches to host prayer gatherings, either in-person or online, prior to, but especially on Thursday 10 September. We never underestimate the power of prayer, and it has previously halted efforts to push this issue through, and we are believing that prayer can stop this dangerous bill coming to pass. ### Three ways things we can be praying for: **1. Pray for compassion** Pray for a renewed compassion in our society towards the elderly, those with disabilities or with chronic ill health. May society prioritise caring for sick people over seeking to help them end their lives. **2. Pray for courage** Pray for those politicians who have spoken out on the potential harm caused by introducing assisted suicide into our health and social care service. We give thanks for them and pray their efforts to persuade their peers will be fruitful. **3. Pray for conviction** Pray for politicians currently sitting on the fence on how they will vote. Pray there will be a holy conviction to heed the warnings set out, protect life and vote against proceeding with this bill. Disability groups, domestic abuse support services, faith leaders and the Royal Colleges have all spoken out on the dangers and provided strong reasons to oppose the bill. --- **On Friday, 11 September Christian organisations alongside disability and women’s charities will gather outside Old Palace Yard, Westminster to make our collective opposition to the bill visible.** [**You can find more details here**](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/not-this-bill-westminster-demo-as-mps-vote-on-assisted-dying-tickets-1997842768501)**.** **As the Westminster team we are meeting with and briefing parliamentarians ahead of the vote in the hope to persuade them of how dangerous this bill is if passed. We will update members on the outcome of second reading vote, the following week.** [ ![Labour MP resuscitates the unsafe assisted dying bill, but why?](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ![Lauren Edwards Labour MP for Rochester and Strood](https://eauk.org/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,quality=90,width=400,fit=cover/https://cdn.eauk.org/Lauren-Edwards-Labour-MP-for-Rochester-and-Strood.jpeg) ](https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/labour-mp-resuscitates-the-unsafe-assisted-dying-bill-but-why) [#### Labour MP resuscitates the unsafe assisted dying bill, but why? ](https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/labour-mp-resuscitates-the-unsafe-assisted-dying-bill-but-why) The controversial bill and issue return to parliament. Here’s how the UK church can mobilise itself over the coming weeks [ ![Alicia Edmund](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ](/author/alicia-edmund) [ Alicia Edmund ](/author/alicia-edmund) 18 June 2026 [](https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/labour-mp-resuscitates-the-unsafe-assisted-dying-bill-but-why) [ ![Advocacy](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ![Politics briefing web banner](https://eauk.org/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,quality=90,width=400,fit=cover/https://cdn.eauk.org/Politics-briefing-web-banner.png) ](https://www.eauk.org/what-we-do/advocacy) [#### Advocacy ](https://www.eauk.org/what-we-do/advocacy) Representing over 30,000 personal members, thousands of churches and hundreds of organisations across the UK's parliamentary democracy and in the media [ Find out more ](https://www.eauk.org/what-we-do/advocacy) [](https://www.eauk.org/what-we-do/advocacy)