On Friday, Members of Parliament of the House of Commons voted in favour of a bill that will grant terminally ill adults in England and Wales with less than six months to live the right to die with medical assistance under proper legislation.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill can now go through a lengthy process of amendments by the House of Lords before becoming a law – since the bill got 330 votes in favour and 275 against.
MPs were deeply divided by this issue and were given a free vote without any constraints on the lines of parties. “People across the country will be paying extremely close attention to today’s vote, but this is a matter of conscience,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer spokesperson said, who voted for the bill.
The legislation delineates a maximum 14-year prison sentence for anyone who coerces someone to take lethal medication or request assisted dying.
“We are not talking about a choice between life or death – we are talking about giving people a choice about how to die,” Labour MP Kim Leadbeater told MPs during a five-hour debate in the Commons. The bill was tabled by Leadbeater as a private member bill. She has actively been campaigning about this issue since weeks.
She has insisted that compared to any assisted dying legislation anywhere in the world, her bill contains “the most robust safeguards”. The bill includes two independent doctors’ approval for the decision, followed by a high-court judge and the concerned person having to administer the drugs themselves.
The bill has also attracted some high-profile support – like former Prime Minister David Cameron who agrees that people who are in agony and face imminent death, should have an option of shortening their pain.
However, there are challenges surrounding the bill, like the possibility of vulnerable people being coerced into opting for assisted dying.
British Indian Conservative MP Neil Shastri-Hurst backed the bill and argued that people should have access to “the death they deserve”.
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also voted in favour of the bill. Meanwhile Suella Braverman was among those voting against.
