Opponents of assisted suicide have vowed to fight on after Friday's disappointing third reading vote in favour of changing the law.
Despite the blow, Right to Life UK said the significantly reduced margin of only 23 votes was a "remarkable reversal of fortune" for Kim Leadbeater's bill, which saw support diminish over the months since it passed on its second reading with a 55-vote majority.
Right to Life UK, which has been campaigning for better palliative care instead of assisted suicide, said Friday's result showed how "flawed" the bill is. It remains "confident" that the bill can still be overturned in the House of Lords.
Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for the charity, said that "momentum remains with its opponents, with support consistently falling every time MPs have considered it".
"The bill leaves the Commons lacking a majority, with fewer than half of all MPs voting for it at its final stage," she said.
“We will be fighting this bill at every stage in the House of Lords, where we are confident it can be overturned given its continued loss of support.
“Hundreds of thousands of people from around the country, from a wide range of backgrounds and with differing views, have come together on this one issue. We will be working together to ensure this Bill, which would have a profoundly negative impact on vulnerable people in our society, never becomes law.
“The most vulnerable in our society deserve our unwavering protection and the highest standard of care, not a pathway to assisted suicide."
She added, “With our NHS described by the Health Secretary as ‘broken’, and 100,000 people still dying each year without the palliative care they need, this assisted suicide legislation is a disaster waiting to happen."
John Deighan, chief executive of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said his organisation would be lobbying the House of Lords to scrutinise the bill and ultimately reject it.
"It is very disappointing that, despite the growing evidence of problems with this bill, MPs have voted to progress this bill," he said.
"They have abdicated their responsibility to scrutinise legislation effectively and make sure the most vulnerable are protected."But we will not give up. The majority since November has been halved, and the bill still faces an uphill battle to clear all parliamentary stages."
Ross Hendry, CEO of Christian social policy charity CARE, called the vote in favour of assisted suicide "a blow to human dignity". He said the charity stands with others in continuing to oppose the bill.
"People on both sides of the assisted suicide debate share a desire to relieve human suffering. In our view, facilitating suicides under an irredeemably flawed legislative regime is the wrong way to help struggling citizens," he said.
"Palliative and end-of-life care requires significant, and urgent investment. Yet, conventional care would be harmed if assisted suicide becomes legal. "We will continue to fight this bill, along with many others."
Gordon Macdonald, CEO of Care Not Killing, said, "Peers must now grasp the nettle, committing to rigorous scrutiny, addressing the flaws and weaknesses MPs left in place, and if they cannot, they must vote it down."
Not Dead Yet, a disability advocacy group, is preparing to "redouble" its efforts to fight the bill as it moves to the House of Lords.
Baroness Campbell, co-founder of the charity, said she was "heartened that the majority in favour was so small".
"An issue of such profound significance should not be decided in this way. Our fight goes on. Disabled people’s lives will be at great risk if the bill passes into law," she said.
"The passage of this bill in the Commons is a setback, but it is not the end," the charity's spokesperson Mike Smith added.
"We call upon the House of Lords to act as the vital revising chamber it is meant to be. They must listen to the voices of disabled people whose lives are directly threatened by this legislation and act to protect them.
"Not Dead Yet UK and our allies will be there every step of the way, fighting to prevent this dangerous law from causing irreparable harm."
The Catholic Archbishop of Southwark John Wilson called on opponents to continue praying and campaigning in defence of human life.
“This is a terrifyingly dark week in British history, as MPs vote for legislation which endangers the lives of unborn children, and promote legislation which will endanger vulnerable adults and the elderly," he said.
"All those who stand on the side on the side of life, and who uphold the dignity of human life from conception to natural death, need to raise their voice in defence of those who are voiceless.
"Irrespective of religious belief this is a matter of basic justice for every human life.
"As followers of the Lord Jesus, we are a people of life. Jesus is our hope and in his name we will tirelessly make the case for the defence of human life. Life is sacred. It is a gift from God and we must never be afraid to speak this truth.
“I urge you to continue to pray and campaign in defence of human life.”
