LONDON: UK lawmakers debated whether to advance emotive legislation to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill people in England and Wales ahead of an expected vote on Friday, as competing protesters made their voices heard outside parliament.
The House of Commons last debated, and defeated, a euthanasia bill in 2015, but public support for giving terminally ill people the choice to end their lives has since shifted in favour, polls show.
A change in the law would see Britain emulate several other countries in Europe and elsewhere who allow some form of assisted dying.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who is behind the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, opened the debate by arguing that changing the law would give terminally ill people “choice, autonomy and dignity at the end of their lives”.
Advocates also argue that it would make some deaths less painful.
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But other MPs expressed concern that people might feel coerced into opting for euthanasia, while some said they were worried it would discriminate against people with disabilities.
Opponents also worry that the healthcare system is not ready for such a landmark change and that it could cause a decline in investment for palliative care.
“True dignity consists in being cared for to the end,“ Conservative MP Danny Kruger told a close-to-full chamber, urging colleagues to reject a “state suicide service”.
Outside, dozens of opponents gathered holding signs with “Kill the Bill, not the ill” and “care not killing”, urging MPs to vote against the proposed legislation.
A nearby gathering in favour of the legislation saw people dressed in pink holding placards with slogans like “my life, my death, my choice”.
Assisted suicide currently carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- 'Shortening death' -
In Scotland, which has a separate legal system and devolved powers to set its own health policy, it is not a specific criminal offence. But it can leave a person open to other charges, including murder.
Leadbeater's bill would allow assisted suicide in England and Wales for adults with an incurable illness who have a life expectancy of fewer than six months and are able to take the substance that causes their death themselves.
Any patient's wish to die would have to be signed off by a judge and two doctors.
The measures are stricter than assisted dying laws in other European countries and also proposed legislation being contemplated in France.
Consideration is being given to a similar bill in Scotland.
Leadbeater's initiative is a so-called private members' bill and is not part of the government's agenda.
The debate was due to end at 2:00 pm (1400 GMT), with a vote on progressing the bill to its next parliamentary stage expected shortly afterwards.
MPs will have a free vote, meaning the outcome is very difficult to predict.
If the legislation is advanced then it would kickstart parliamentary scrutiny that could take months or years.
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The bill follows Prime Minister Keir Starmer's vow, before winning power in July, to allow parliament to revisit the issue.
The UK leader, who voted in favour of permitting assisted suicide in 2015 but with “robust” safeguards, has not revealed his current view.
His ministerial team had been instructed to remain neutral but several expressed views, both in support and against.
Two polls last week indicated that a majority of Britons back changing the law.
Faith leaders are among the stringent opponents, with nearly 30 signing a joint letter last weekend arguing they are “deeply concerned” by the plans.
Ex-premiers Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Gordon Brown have all said they oppose the legislation.
But former prime minister David Cameron, who resisted the 2015 law change, revealed he had changed his mind on the issue.
“As campaigners have convincingly argued, this proposal is not about ending life. It is about shortening death,“ he wrote in The Times newspaper on Thursday.
