Tomorrow Kim Leadbeater MP’s Assisted Dying Bill will enter the House of Lords. It’s by no means guaranteed to pass, and will face multiple hurdles and determined opposition from bishops and peers vehemently opposed. But the Commons and the public have spoken, and I hope the Lords listen.

When I stood in Parliament Square in June as the Assisted Dying Bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons, it was a poignant moment. Hundreds of campaigners, many of whom have been personally affected by the UK’s current, cruel assisted dying laws, waited for the moment we heard that MPs, backed by an overwhelming majority of the public, had voted in favour of a compassionate assisted dying law for England and Wales.

This was by no means the first attempt to get such legislation through the parliament. As early as the 1930s, assisted dying was being discussed by politicians with a first Private Members’ Bill put forward by Lord Ponsonby in 1936. More attempts have followed since, with campaigners frustratingly watching from the sidelines as progress has been thwarted, despite overwhelming public support. But now, nearly 90 years after Lord Ponsonby’s initial Bill, we have a real opportunity to make history. Thanks to Kim Leadbeater’s dedication and the tireless efforts of all those who campaign for legalisation, we can finally offer choice and dignity to those suffering in unimaginable ways at the end of their lives. For the Lords to now block progress would be wrong, particularly as this bill has received more scrutiny than most government legislation, and incorporates the strongest safeguards in the world.

In the decades since those early efforts, millions of people around the world have been granted the opportunity to choose a dignified death, finding peace at the end of their lives. Over 30 places in the world have shown assisted dying can be delivered safely and in a way that actually increases the quality of palliative care and does not interfere with the care of the vulnerable. That’s years of progress we can learn from. Closer to home, we’re seeing changes too. In Jersey, the Council of Ministers has just lodged the Draft Assisted Dying Law, following the States Assembly’s overwhelming approval of proposals last year. In March, the Isle of Man became the first jurisdiction in the UK and Crown dependencies to pass an assisted dying law following a historic vote. In Scotland, Liam McArthur MSP’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill passed a major vote on the principle of the Bill, and is making its way through Holyrood. England and Wales must not become outliers.

I have seen the pain and the desperation of people who want to die on their own terms, surrounded by their loved ones but who face being forced instead into a clandestine and lonely act. I’ve worked with campaigners like Tony Nicklinson and Noel Conway, who suffered so much at the end of their lives and deserved better. This simply should not be happening in a modern, compassionate country. It will be in tribute to them as much as to help those suffering today that this 90-year journey should end with success, bringing compassion and choice and peace to us all.