The historic vote on legalizing assisted dying in England and Wales is about to approach

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LONDON (AP) — A passionate debate took place in the British Parliament on Friday proposal to help terminally ill adults end their lives in England and Wales, an issue that has divided both lawmakers and the country as a whole.

It’s the first time in almost a decade that the House of Commons has had the opportunity to vote on legalizing what some people call ‘assisted dying’ but what others call ‘assisted suicide’ – and it looks like this will be a close outcome. will be.

Ahead of debate on the End of Life for Terminally Ill Adults bill, about 180 lawmakers said they would support the proposal, while about 150 said they would not. The remaining 300 or so lawmakers have yet to make a decision or have not announced how they will vote.

The debate is passionate and covers issues of ethics, grief, the law, religion, crime and money. It is being listened to and watched by the hundreds of people on either side of the debate who have gathered outside Parliament.

Lawmakers recount personal experiences and those of their constituents, while others focus on the impact on the country’s hard-pressed national healthcare system and the urgent need to improve palliative care.

Some 160 MPs have indicated they would like to make a speech during the debate, but the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lyndsay Hoyle, said it was unlikely they would all get the chance to do so.

A vote in favor of the bill would send it to a new round of hearings, where it will be further examined and voted on in both Houses of Parliament. If ultimately approved, a new law is unlikely to come into force within the next two to three years.

A vote against would mean death.

“Let’s be clear: we’re not talking about a choice between life and death, we’re talking about giving dying people a choice about how they want to die,” the bill’s lead sponsor, Kim Leadbeater, said in opening remarks in a crowded room. .

She admitted that it is not an easy decision for lawmakers, but that “if any of us want an easy life, he is in the wrong place.”

Danny Kruger, who led the argument against the bill, said he believes Parliament can do “better” for terminally ill people than a “state suicide squad” and that it is the legislature’s role to provide safeguards for the most vulnerable.

“We are the protection, this place, this Parliament, you and me,” he said. “We are the people who protect society’s most vulnerable from harm, and yet we are about to give up that role.”

Although the current bill was introduced by a member of the ruling center-left Labor Party, it is an open vote that involves building alliances that bring together those who are usually political enemies.

In essence, the bill would allow adults over the age of 18, who are expected to have less than six months to live, to request and receive assistance to end their lives, subject to safeguards and protections. They should be able to take the deadly drugs themselves.

Supporters say the law would give dignity to the dying and prevent unnecessary suffering, while providing sufficient safeguards to prevent those near the end of their lives from being forced to commit suicide. Opponents say it would put vulnerable people at risk, potentially forced, directly or indirectly, to end their lives so they don’t become a burden.

It is the first time the House of Commons has debated an assisted death bill since 2015, when a similar measure failed. Only about a third of lawmakers from that parliament are still in office.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has previously backed assisted dying, said the government would remain neutral and would not reveal how he will vote. Some members of his cabinet have said they will support the bill, while others oppose it. Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, has said she will vote against it.

Other countries that have legalized assisted suicide include Australia, Belgium, Canada and parts of the United States, with rules on who is eligible varying by jurisdiction. More than 500 Britons have ended their lives in Switzerland, where law allows assisted death for non-residents.

Assisted suicide is different from euthanasia, permitted in the Netherlands Canadawhere healthcare providers administer a lethal injection at the patient’s request in specific circumstances.

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