LONDON (AP) – British lawmakers on Friday gave initial approval to a bill to help terminally ill adults end their lives in England and Wales.
After a heated debate, lawmakers approved the so-called assisted dying bill by a vote of 330 to 275.
The vote indicates MPs have approved the bill in principle, and it will move on to further scrutiny in Parliament. A similar bill failed its critical first test in 2015.
The vote came after hours of sometimes emotional debate that touched on issues of ethics, grief, law, faith, crime and money. Hundreds of people on both sides of the issue gathered outside Congress.
Supporters say the law gives dignity to dying people and prevents unnecessary suffering, while ensuring there are sufficient safeguards to prevent people nearing the end of their lives from being forced to commit suicide. Ta. Opponents said this would put vulnerable people at risk and could be forced to directly or indirectly end their lives to avoid becoming a burden.
Supporters of the bill say their hearts are broken for constituents and families who suffered in the last months of their lives, and for dying people who secretly commit suicide because it is now a crime for anyone to provide assistance. He told a story like this.
“Let's be clear: we're not talking about a choice between life and death, we're talking about giving dying people a choice in how they die,” said the bill's lead sponsor. Kim Leadbeater said in her opening speech. In a crowded room.
She acknowledged this was not an easy decision for MPs, but said: “If any of us want an easy life, they are in the wrong place.”
Opponents said vulnerable people, the elderly and the disabled could be forced to choose assisted dying to save money or ease the burden on their families. . Some called for improved palliative care as an alternative means of relieving suffering.
Danny Kruger, who led the group opposing the bill, said he believed Congress could do “much better” for terminally ill people than “state suicide services” and that Congress' role was to help the most vulnerable. He said the aim was to provide a safety net.
“This place, this Congress, you and I are the safeguards,” he said. “We are on the brink of abandoning our role in protecting society’s most vulnerable from harm.”
The bill, proposed by MPs from the ruling centre-left Labor Party, was put to a public vote after an alliance was formed to bring together people who would normally be political opponents.
The core of the bill would allow adults over the age of 18 who have less than six months to live to request and receive safeguards and protections to help them end their lives. They must be able to ingest the lethal drugs themselves.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has previously supported assisted dying, said his government would remain neutral and would not reveal how it would vote. Some cabinet members said they supported the bill, while others opposed it. Kemi Badenoch, leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, said she would vote against the bill.
Other countries that have legalized assisted suicide include Australia, Belgium, Canada, and parts of the United States, although regulations regarding who is eligible vary by jurisdiction. Assisted dying for non-residents is legal in Switzerland, and more than 500 British nationals have taken their own lives in Switzerland.
Assisted suicide is different from euthanasia, which is allowed in the Netherlands and Canada, and involves a medical professional administering a lethal injection at the patient's request under certain circumstances.
