MPs have voted in favour of assisted dying for the terminally ill in England and Wales under strict conditions.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill passed in its second reading this afternoon with 330 ayes to 275 noes after nearly five hours of debating.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer – who proposed a similar 2015 proposal – said the government would remain neutral in the vote.
Politicians, pundits and the public alike, it was safe to say, had no idea where the vote was going to go.
MPs were given a free vote, meaning they could yay or nay on conscience alone rather than toeing a party line.
Only hours before the vote drew to a close just before 2.30pm, how roughly half of the 650 MPs would vote was unknown.
Capturing the clash of views, among the MPs in the aye camp was Starmer, former PM Rishi Sunak, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Reform UK politician Lee Anderson.
A chunk of the cabinet voted against the law, including: Angela Rayner, David Lammy, Wes Streeting, Shabana Mahmood, Bridget Phillipson and Jonathan Reynolds. Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Mother of the House Diane Abbott joined them.
In the long road to getting a bill in the books, this isn’t the final step. MPs might have spent hours soul-searching, debating and voting, this is only the second reading so is not yet law.
Now the more than 40-page bill will be looked over by a committee before going into a ‘report stage’ where the entire House can hash out any tweaks they want, though this wouldn’t happen until next April.
The bill needs to pass through a third round of voting in the Commons to make it through to the House of Lords. After getting the upper chamber’s seal of approval and King’s Charles’ rubber-stamp, it will become law.
People have the ‘right to die’ in some parts of Europe and the US, with one Briton every eight days travelling abroad to die, according to the campaign group Dignity in Dying.
Dignitas, an assisted-dying organisation in Switzerland, told MPs last year that it has helped 540 Britons die.
The last time MPs debated assisted dying in 2015, when Parliament overwhelmingly rejected the proposal in a 330-118 vote.
‘Assisted dying’ means a lot of different things depending on who you ask.
It often refers to helping patients who meet well-defined criteria and are on the threshold of dying choose when and how to end their lives. They might receive lethal drugs from a medical practitioner, which they administer themselves.
The bill gives those aged 18 or over in England or Wales the right to choose to end their life if they have received a terminal diagnosis and told they have no more than six months to live.
There are a fair few safeguards in the proposed process:
It would also be illegal to coerce someone into declaring they want to end their life, with a possible 14-year prison sentence. People being pressured into death has been a key worry among critics and faith leaders.
A patient would be prescribed an ‘approved substance’ that they must self-administer without the help of a medical professional.
The bill does not specify the type of lethal drug used in the process, often called ‘medical aid in dying’.
This is a slightly different process to how some other countries. Voluntary euthanasia, for example, sees a health professional administer the drugs.
A similar law is being considered by Scotland’s Parliament.
This is quite the change from the current law, in which it’s illegal to assist someone in the act of dying by suicide. Doing so can land someone 14 years behind bars.
Out of 187 cases of assisted suicides referred to the courts in the past 15, of which, just four were prosecuted.
Given that assisted dying is only legal in a handful of countries, some commentators have compared the vote to other landmark legislation that reformed abortion, marriage equality and the death penalty.
Backbench Labour MP Kim Leadbeater introduced the bill after she was selected in a lottery to propose a Private Members’ Bill – a bill without party support.
We definitely don’t mean the national lottery here. At the start of a parliamentary session, 20 MPs get a chance to change the law and raise awareness by bringing forward their own bills.
Leadbeater said after the vote that her late sister, the MP Jo Cox who was short in Birstall eight years ago, would have been happy with the result.
‘Well, I’m nearly in floods,’ the MP for Spen Valley told Sky News, ‘because it’s a really emotional process.
‘But I’m incredibly proud – I think today we’ve seen parliament at its best.’
Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, agreed. ‘This is a historic step towards greater choice and protection for dying people,’ she said.
‘Parliament has listened to dying people and is reflecting their views, at last.’
Split, but not quite as split as MPs have been over the topic.
About two-thirds of Britons believe assisted dying should be legal in certain circumstances, according to an Ipsos poll.
You can have your own say on the issue in Metro’s own poll below.
But pollsters have stressed that this support isn’t clear-cut. It depends a lot on those wishing to end their lives having strong safeguards and not being pressured into the decision.
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