LONDON — British lawmakers gave initial approval Friday 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 vote signals lawmakers’ approval in principle for the bill and sends it on to further scrutiny in Parliament. Similar legislation failed to pass that important first test in 2015.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]The vote came after hours of debate — emotional at times — that touched on issues of ethics, grief, the law, faith, crime and money. Hundreds of people on both sides of the issue gathered outside Parliament.
Supporters said the law would provide dignity to the dying and prevent unnecessary suffering, while ensuring there are enough safeguards to prevent those near the end of their lives from being coerced into taking their own life. Opponents said it would put vulnerable people at risk, potentially coerced, directly or indirectly, to end their lives so they don’t become a burden.
Backers of the bill told heart-wrenching stories about constituents and family members who suffered in the final months of their lives and dying people who committed suicide in secret because it is currently a crime for anyone to provide assistance.
“Let’s be clear, we’re not talking about a choice between life or death, we are talking about giving dying people a choice about how to die,” the bill’s main sponsor, Kim Leadbeater, said in the opening speech in a packed chamber.
She conceded that it’s not an easy decision for lawmakers but that “if any of us wanted an easy life, they’re in the wrong place.”
Those opposed spoke of the danger that vulnerable, elderly and disabled people could be coerced into opting for assisted dying to save money or relieve the burden on family members. Others called for the improvement of palliative care to ease suffering as an alternative.
Danny Kruger, who led the argument against the bill, said he believes Parliament can do “better” for terminally ill people than a “state suicide service” and that the role of legislatures is to offer safeguards for the most vulnerable.
“We are the safeguard, this place, this Parliament, you and me,” he said. “We are the people who protect the most vulnerable in society from harm and yet we stand on the brink of abandoning that role.”
Although the bill was proposed by a member of the ruling center-left Labour Party, it was an open vote with alliances formed that bring together those who are usually political foes.
At its heart, the bill would allow adults over the age of 18 who are expected to have fewer than six months to live to request and be provided with help to end their life, subject to safeguards and protections. They would have to be capable of taking the fatal drugs themselves.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has previously supported assisted dying, said the government will remain neutral and he wouldn’t reveal how he would vote. Some members of his cabinet had said they would support the bill, while others were against it. Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, said she would vote against.
Other countries that have legalized assisted suicide include Australia, Belgium, Canada and parts of the United States, with regulations on who is eligible varying by jurisdiction. More than 500 British people have ended their lives in Switzerland, where the law allows assisted dying for nonresidents.
Assisted suicide is different from euthanasia, allowed in the Netherlands and Canada, which involves health care practitioners administering a lethal injection at the patient’s request in specific circumstances.
