This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
England and Wales inched closer to legalizing assisted dying after MPs approved a controversial bill in the House of Commons on Friday that would allow terminally ill adults to end their lives.
MPs in the House of Commons voted 330 to 275 in favor of the assisted dying bill, which will now be sent for further scrutiny in Parliament before being given a final vote by MPs.
The proposed bill would allow people over the age of 18 and with less than six months to live to request and be provided with safeguards and protections to end their own lives.
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On Friday, November 29, 2024, in Parliament in London, British MPs began a historic debate on proposals to help terminally ill people end their lives in England and Wales. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
The vote came after hours of emotional discussion in which people shared stories of personal loss and suffering. The sensitive debate touched on issues of ethics, grief, law, faith, crime and money, and as the debate progressed, large crowds gathered outside parliament.
Although highly controversial, several polls show that the majority of Britons support the principle of assisted dying.
According to Euronews, European countries such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain, Austria and Portugal have decriminalized euthanasia and assisted dying. Switzerland was the first country in the world to allow all types of assisted dying, and the practice has been legal since 1941.
It is also legal in 10 US states: Washington DC, California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico, Maine, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Washington.
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, including religious leaders, said vulnerable people were at risk of being forced to take their own lives directly or indirectly to avoid becoming a burden.
The proposal would require two doctors and a High Court judge to confirm that the person made the decision voluntarily. Pressuring or coercing someone to end their life is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
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Opponents of a bill that would legalize assisted dying held a signature drive on Friday. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
“To be clear, we are not talking about a choice between life and death, we are talking about giving dying people a choice about how they die.” Kim Leadbeater, the bill's lead sponsor, said as she introduced the bill to a packed audience. chamber.
He said it could take another six months for a second vote to take place.
“I will take the evidence, the written evidence, the oral evidence. We will set up a very thorough and strong bill committee to scrutinize the bill and make it the best it can be,” he told reporters after Friday's vote. I intend to do so,” he said. “It's going to be a long process…and as I said in my speech, we have a two-year implementation period, so there's plenty of time to get this right.”
Consideration should also be given to an assessment of how assisted dying is funded and what impact this has on the UK's state-funded public health service, hospice care and the legal system.
Conservative MP Danny Kruger said he was concerned the bill was full of loopholes and the safeguards were “not very strong”.
“We now have several more months of debate, and we will either be successful in making the bill safe, or concluded that the colleagues who raised concerns will succeed in making it safe, or we will not be able to pass the bill. “I hope it can be rejected at a later stage, at third reading,” he said.
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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said he voted against the bill. (Karl Cote/Getty Images)
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer voted in favor of the bill. He said last month that he was “very pleased” that such a vote had taken place, saying the government would remain neutral on the matter and that MPs would be given a free vote without having to follow party lines. said. BBC.
Other members of the cabinet also voted against it, including Health Minister Wes Streeting and Justice Minister Shabana Mahmoud. Other political parties had similar opinions.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said he voted against the bill.
“I voted against the assisted dying bill not out of a lack of compassion, but because I feared it would expand the scope of the law,” Farage wrote to X. “Then the right to die may become the duty to die.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
