Demonstrators gathered outside the U.K. Parliament Friday to oppose a bill legalizing assisted suicide for terminally ill adults. The protest included a visual installation of shoes symbolizing those who could die each year if the legislation is passed.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, introduced by MP Kim Leadbeater, proposes to allow people diagnosed with six months or less to live to opt for medically assisted suicide. The government’s official impact assessment estimates that between 164 and 647 people would die by assisted suicide in the first year of legalisation, with numbers increasing in subsequent years, according to the conservative group Christian Concern.

Leadbeater herself has estimated that assisted suicides could account for up to 3 percent of all annual deaths in England and Wales, which could total as many as 17,000 people per year. The final number remains uncertain, as it depends on uptake, implementation and medical eligibility criteria.

Friday’s protest was led by Storm Cecile, whose father, Cecil Harper, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2019 and given two to three years to live, the group said in a statement to The Christian Post. Still alive today, Harper recently addressed the media outside Parliament to express his opposition to the bill.

The protest featured rows of empty shoes placed on the pavement as a symbolic representation of lives that demonstrators believe would be lost each year under the bill’s provisions.

Storm, who is her father’s primary caregiver, said, “The creative demonstration is a visual representation of all the people we will lose each year to the assisted dying bill. We hope that by showing this, it will humanise the people that we will lose to the bill.”

She described her father’s extended survival as a counterpoint to the assumptions underlying assisted suicide laws.

“My dad being terminally ill with prostate cancer which has spread to the bone has been challenging for us all as a family. He was given two years to live in 2019, but has been living for over six. I am a carer for my dad and deeply desire the best for him. While caring takes a large amount of time, money and resources; I recognise that caring for my dad is a gift and every moment is precious. I cannot mentally even bring myself to think that it would be better if he wasn’t here. Love looks after people. It sacrifices time and is something we all may carry at one point or another. The solution is not to offer suicide, but to provide better healthcare, better palliative solutions and to have better support for carers.”

Christian Concern’s chief executive Andrea Williams said the bill risked pushing vulnerable individuals toward suicide at a time when many outlive prognoses and retain meaningful life experiences. “This bill opens up the option of suicide to anyone who has been given six months or less to live,” she said. “But many patients outlive doctors’ expectations, sometimes by years.”

Williams argued that legalising assisted suicide could lead to premature deaths, robbing people of time with loved ones or even possible recovery. “Assisted suicide claims to be compassionate but, in fact, it turns vulnerable people into problems that can be ‘fixed’ with a lethal injection.”

Christian Concern said the installation aims to convey that the consequences of such a law would be irreversible. “The display of shoes outside Parliament will show the devastating reality that we will not be able to get back our family and friends who take the option of assisted suicide.”

In May, Christian and disability rights groups criticised the government’s impact report for projecting that legalising assisted suicide could save the NHS up to £59.6 million ($80 million) annually.

The analysis suggested that shortening the final months of life for terminal patients could reduce costs across ambulance services, hospital admissions, outpatient care, hospice services and prescriptions, The Christian Institute said at the time.

Based on healthcare cost data from the final six months of life in the U.K., the report projected savings by assuming assisted death would occur two months into that period, removing four months of care. This assumption, applied to future case estimates, formed the basis for the financial projections.

However, the report’s authors acknowledged a high degree of uncertainty in their modelling. The word “uncertain” appeared 36 times in the 149-page report, which marked key cost-benefit metrics as “not applicable” due to data limitations. The analysis also stated that implementation details would need to be defined in future secondary legislation.

The projections relied in part on international comparisons with assisted dying regimes in Oregon and Canada. The government analysis also warned of difficulties in securing participation from sufficient medical professionals willing to assist in the process.

Critics said the report’s emphasis on potential financial savings posed serious risks. Ciarán Kelly, director of The Christian Institute, said at the time that the proposed legislation could encourage a shift in healthcare priorities, moving resources “from care into killing.”

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, a former Paralympian and disability rights campaigner, said the report revealed a systemic risk that financial strain on the NHS could lead to viewing assisted suicide as a viable “treatment option.” She warned that such incentives could lead to subtle or direct pressure on people who already feel burdensome.

Legal experts have also questioned the compatibility of the bill with existing human rights protections.

The government’s impact report indicated that assisted suicide could lead to between 1,042 and 4,559 deaths annually within a decade of implementation.