A proposal to allow terminally ill adult patients in England and Wales the right to end their lives was introduced to parliament on Wednesday, October 16 has set off an emotional debate on an issue that has differing opinions.
The assisted dying bill is hoped to allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults who have six months or less to live, the right to choose to end their lives with medical help.
This is the first attempt to change the law in about a decade.
The lawmaker from Britain’s governing Labour Party, Kim Leadbeater, who is behind the bill, has said the current law which demands that assisting suicide is punishable by up to 14 years in jail, was outdated in light of the shift in public opinion.
In an interview she had granted Reuters, Leadbeater said;
“For some people palliative care is not going to ease their pain and suffering and they are asking for the choice to have an assisted death, and I think they should be given that choice.”
According to a 2023 Ipsos Mori poll, legalising assisted dying is supported by up to two-thirds of Britons and this poll has some high profile supporters including Prime Minister, Keir Starmer and broadcaster, Esther Rantzen.
This phenomenon is not limited to the UK as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and some U.S. states have in recent years, legalised assisted dying under certain circumstances.
Switzerland was a pioneer for this movement as it has been legal in the country since 1942. For the Netherlands, it was legalised since 2002
The proposed legislation will be debated by lawmakers on November 29 after which a vote might hold to kickstart the formal process for a law change.
In 2015, British lawmakers voted 330 to 118 against the second reading of proposed legislation to legalise assisted dying.
A good number of of Britain’s biggest social reforms have come as a result of what are termed; “private members’ bills,” submitted to parliament by individual lawmakers such as Leadbeater.
They include abolition of the death penalty, the legalisation of abortion and the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the 1960s.
However for this proposal, Starmer has said politicians will be able to vote with their consciences on the matter, rather than along party lines.
What They’re Saying
Those against assisted dying have argued that vulnerable sick people could feel pressured into choosing it, with some worrying that the law could then be extended to cover other conditions.
“For many of us, including many disabled people who would be impacted by these laws, it’s not just worrying, it’s terrifying,” actor and broadcaster Liz Carr had posted on X.
He further added; “My concern is that once you can ask for assisted suicide, it soon becomes something that you feel that you ought to do. Permission slips into being duty.”
