People hold placards during a demonstration in support of assisted dying outside the British parliament, in London, on Nov. 29.Mina Kim/Reuters
British MPs have taken a historic step toward legalizing assisted dying, signalling a major social change on an issue that has divided the country for decades.
On Friday, MPs approved a bill in principle that permits terminally ill adults to seek help to end their lives if they have less than six months to live. Each request would need to be assessed by two doctors and a High Court judge, and all lethal drugs would have to be self-administered.
The bill was adopted by a margin of 330 to 275. It will now be referred to a parliamentary committee for further scrutiny and possible changes before returning to the House of Commons for another vote.
“I am nearly in floods of tears because it has been a really emotional process. But I am incredibly proud that I think today we have seen Parliament at its best,” said Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP who introduced the bill. She added: “I think we have done what needed to be done which is to take this really important piece of legislation to the next level.”
Once it receives final approval, the law would apply to England and Wales. Scotland is moving ahead with similar provisions, but Northern Ireland’s legislature has yet to address the issue. Britain would also join about a dozen other countries that have some form of assisted dying including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and several U.S. states.
The debate over assisted dying has been emotionally charged for years in Britain, which has strict prohibitions against helping someone end their life. Anyone who even accompanies a person to another country for an assisted death is liable to up to 14 years in prison.
British lawmakers gave initial approval Nov. 29 to a bill to help terminally ill adults end their lives in England and Wales. After an impassioned debate, members of Parliament approved the so-called assisted dying bill by a vote of 330 to 275.
The Associated Press
The last time MPs voted on a comparable bill was in 2015 and it was defeated 330 to 118. But public opinion has shifted over the years and recent polls showed that a majority of people generally supported assisted dying.
On Friday, MPs were allowed to vote freely without party discipline, and many struggled with their decision. During a five-hour debate, several MPs choked up as they offered personal accounts of terminally ill relatives and friends.
“I have seen uncontrollable pain,” said Peter Prinsley, a medical doctor and Labour MP. “I’m speaking here of people who are dying, not of people living well with chronic or terminal diseases. We are talking about people at the end of their lives, wishing to choose the time and place to die.”
Conservative MP Kit Malthouse told the House “the death bed for far too many is a place of misery, torture and degradation, a rain of blood and vomit and tears.” He added: “Please be clear that, whatever happens today, terminal people will still take their own lives. All we are deciding today is how.”
Those MPs who were against the bill raised concerns about its safeguards. Many pointed to Canada where the medical assistance in dying, or MAID, law was adopted in 2016 for terminally ill adults, but quickly broadened to include others after a series of court challenges.
“Let us do better than this bill. Let today not be a vote for despair, but the start of a proper debate about dying well in which we have a better idea than a state suicide service,” said Danny Kruger, a Conservative MP.
The Labour government remained neutral on the bill and Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not participate in Friday’s debate. However, he voted in favour of the bill along with Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner voted the other way along with seven other cabinet ministers.
A big challenge now will be for MPs to address how the law will be applied in practice. Questions have been raised about whether the requirement that terminally ill people must have only six months to live is practical. The role of judges is also unclear and the government has not provided any funding yet.
“There are large unanswered questions around funding, staffing and equity if this bill becomes law,” said Thea Stein, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, a health care think tank.
Several groups opposed to assisted dying have also pledged to keep up their fight and push to have the bill rejected when it returns to the Commons for the next vote at third reading. Only 28 MPs would have to switch their vote for the bill to be defeated.
“Today is indeed a very black Friday for the vulnerable in this country, but this is not over,” said Andrea Williams, the chief executive of Christian Concern, which represents evangelical Christians. She added that opponents “will not give up working to protect life and the most vulnerable in this country from these reckless and rushed proposals.”