MPs have backed a bill that would give some terminally ill patients the right to end their lives, taking a historic step towards legalizing assisted dying in England and Wales.
The House of Representatives supported the bill by a majority of 55 votes, with 330 votes in favor and 275 votes against. Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves voted in favor, while Deputy Prime Minister Angela Ryder and Health Secretary Wes Streeting voted against. .
A private member's bill introduced by Labor MP Kim Leadbeater would give terminally ill adults with less than six months to live the right to die, if signed by two doctors and a High Court judge.
Activists supporting the changes said the vote was an important step forward. Esther Rantzen, who sparked the debate about assisted dying last December by revealing she had terminal lung cancer, said the bill would provide “equal options” for everyone.
She said: “People who do not want assisted dying, and who do not want to participate in the provision of assisted dying, can and do not have to opt out of it and choose to end their lives that way.'' You don't have to, so there's an equal option for everyone, whatever their religion.”
Kit Malthouse, who gave an impassioned speech in favor of the bill, said Parliament had taken an “important first step” and called on the government to devote more parliamentary time to debating the bill. I asked for it.
Opponents of the move expressed disappointment and were not optimistic about the possibility of major changes to strengthen safeguards against coercion in the later stages of parliamentary passage.
Labor's Diane Abbott, the longest-serving female MP, spoke out and voted against the changes, saying: However, many of those who spoke in favor of the bill seem to think they can make significant changes in committee. The committee won't change much, and the question for them is what they will do with the report. [stage]? ”
Hospice and end-of-life care stakeholders, who are neutral on the issue, have called for urgent funding and reforms to palliative care to give patients real choices in dying.
Even if further stages of the bill win support from MPs, the option of assisted dying is likely to still not be available for three years. The bill still needs to pass several more hurdles in Congress and will not be introduced again until April. The government is now likely to appoint a minister to help develop the bill, without formally announcing its support.
It then needs to be voted on again by MPs and passed through the House of Lords. If passed into law, the enforcement period will be two years.
Labor was divided on the issue, with 234 MPs voting in favor and 147 voting against. Most cabinet members, including Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, voted in favor. Liz Kendall, Work and Pensions. and new Secretary of Transportation Heidi Alexander.
Ministers who voted against the bill included Mr Reiner, Mr Street and Foreign Secretary David Lamy. Attorney General Shabana Mahmood. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Reform Party and Plaid Cymru parties also differed over the vote, but voting was considered a matter of conscience and not subject to flogging.
Recent polls show that three-quarters of people support changing the law.
During the five-hour debate, the House heard impassioned appeals from both sides. Lawmakers shared their personal experiences with illness and death, as well as complaints they've heard from constituents about assisted dying.
Mr Leadbeater told MPs this was a generational moment and if rejected it was unlikely to be considered again for 10 years.
Opponents expressed alarm about the level of scrutiny the bill is receiving, saying patients could be subject to coercion.
Labor MP Marie Tidball, who was born with a congenital defect that affects all four limbs, said she would vote in favor of the bill but would seek significant amendments at a later stage.
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She recalled undergoing major surgery at age 6 and experiencing extreme pain. “I had plasters all over my body from my chest to my ankles, and I was in so much pain and needed so much morphine that my skin started itching. I was lying in bed at Sheffield Children's Hospital and my parents were saying to me, 'I want to die, I can't die. I vividly remember saying, 'Please,'” she said.
“That moment gave me a glimpse of how I wanted to live my death, empowered by the choices available to me, just as I had lived my life. In all situations, control is often taken away from people with disabilities.”
Former education secretary Kit Malthouse has hit back at claims that assisted dying increases the burden on the NHS and courts. “Are you seriously saying that my death, my suffering, is too much time for the NHS? Isn't it too much trouble?” he said. “You think I should drown in my own feces because it’s too much trouble for the judge to deal with?”
Peter Princeley, a Labor MP and surgeon, said he changed his mind after witnessing the “horrible loss of dignity and control in the last days of life” during his many years as a doctor.
He said: “When I was a young doctor, I thought it was unconscionable. But now that I'm an older doctor, I'm convinced it's the right change. and suffocation, and, unfortunately, the horrific sight of a man bleeding to death while remaining conscious as cancer invaded his carotid artery.”
Opponents of the bill argued that it would fundamentally change the relationship between state and people, and between doctors and patients. They argued that the bill was hastily introduced and did not provide enough protection for vulnerable people.
Labor MP Jess Asato said that while people may someday want assisted dying for themselves, protecting vulnerable people should come first. “Abuse is all around us,” she said. “There is no mandatory training on coercive and controlling practices for judges, and no effective training for medical professionals. Those who are coerced are often isolated from friends and family. If you don't have to tell your friends and family that you're choosing assisted dying, who will raise the alarm?”
Fellow Labor MP Florence Eshalomi detailed her mother's excruciating suffering from sickle cell anemia and the inadequate care she received. Her voice cracked with emotion as she urged her colleagues to vote against the bill. “We should help people live comfortable and pain-free lives of their own volition before thinking about dying comfortably.”
Finance Committee Chair Meg Hillier shed tears as she described her teenage daughter being hospitalized with acute pancreatitis. “I didn't know for five days, actually months, if she was going to live or die…but I learned that good medicine can ease the pain,” she said.
She urged MPs to reject the bill. “If you have any doubts about giving powers to the state, you should vote against it today.”
Former Home Secretary James Cleverley said: 'If this is so good for alleviating pain and suffering, and a right we should be proud to recognize, why are we denying it to our children? Is that so?” he asked.
After the vote, Labor MP Charlie Falconer, who has been an outspoken supporter of the bill, hugged House of Commons leader Lucy Powell in the central lobby and said: “What a result.”
