London On Friday, British lawmakers approved a historic bill that would assist terminally sick persons in ending their lives for the first time.
Months of discussion and potential revisions to the measure as it passes through the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the upper house of Parliament, begin with the initial parliamentary vote, which was 330 in favor and 275 against.
If ultimately approved, it would be one of the biggest social reforms in a decade and would put the United Kingdom in line with nations like Canada, Australia, and certain U.S. states.
Under the measure, mentally competent persons in England and Wales who have less than six months to live could ask for and get assistance in ending their lives.
In Britain, assisted suicide is now illegal and carries a maximum 14-year prison sentence. If the bill is eventually passed, the same punishment will be applied to anyone found guilty of deceiving, coercing, or pushing someone into making a decision.
In a political system where voting typically occurs along party lines, the debate surrounding the controversial law, which will continue to be discussed in Parliament in the lead-up to the vote, has caused an unusual outpouring of MPs’ emotions and moral convictions.
Former prime ministers, religious leaders, judges, and medical professionals have all spoken on it, and it has brought attention to one of the few problems that affect everyone—birth and taxes, perhaps. Given how many parliamentarians have voiced their ambivalence on the matter, the vote’s outcome appears to be doubtful.
In a circumstance where dignity and agency are scarce, supporters of the measure argue that such a law would alleviate the needless suffering of persons who are near death. According to its detractors, it might put the nation in danger and put vulnerable individuals—like the elderly and the disabled—under pressure to take their own life so they won’t burden their loved ones.
The measure was submitted by Kim Leadbeater, a member of parliament for the ruling Labour Party, who said it was subject to three levels of review. Before the state permits a patient to end their life, a court and two separate physicians must approve such decision.
Critics of the measure cite Canada as an example of a similar statute, where 4% of deaths are attributed to patients choosing to terminate their life, according to government statistics.In contrast to assisted suicide, euthanasia—which is legal in Canada and the Netherlands and permits physicians to administer deadly injections—is not up for discussion in the United Kingdom.
More than a third of the 13,000 people who exercised their choice to terminate their lives said that they did so in part because they felt like a burden to their loved ones. A 2023 government study comparing data from 2022 revealed a 30% increase in the number of persons opting to end their lives. In 2027, Canada intends to expand the rule to include those whose only underlying illness is mental health-related.
Gordon Macdonald, CEO of the campaign group Care Not Killing, told Reuters that there have been numerous guarantees regarding precautions. However, the protections have been eliminated or undermined over time in every jurisdiction where it has occurred.
Nevertheless, a large portion of the public supports the UK measure. According to a YouGov survey last week, 73% of British citizens support the measure, while 13% disagree. Keir Starmer, the current prime minister, has not stated how he intends to vote on Friday, despite his prior opposition to assisted death.
Esther Rantzen, 84, a broadcasting veteran who has stage four illness and is terminally ill, has long advocated for a change in the law. She told Sky News that she would have to travel to Switzerland in order to have assisted death, which she does because she wants to have the option.
She went on to say, “I’m fortunate because I can afford to go, but if this law is changed, it would be a very good change for all the hundreds of thousands of people in the future who can’t afford that and who want to die in their own homes surrounded by the people they love.”
Three of his Conservative successors—Theresa May, Boris Johnson, and Liz Truss—as well as former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown have publicly opposed the bill. However, this week, former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron declared that he had changed his mind about opposing the British measure.
Cameron claimed in an article in The Times of London that the measure expressly does not include mental health or disability grounds and that the protections it contains will enable it to significantly lessen human suffering.
Cameron also denied claims made by current Health Secretary Wes Streeting that the cost and extra management will put further strain on the nation’s struggling National Health Service. The former prime minister stated that the NHS exists to serve patients and the public, not the other way around, and that the measure would only apply to a very tiny percentage of situations.
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