Assisted dying to be legalised in England and Wales after historic vote

London: Terminally ill patients in England and Wales will be allowed to end their own lives under strict conditions after British MPs voted to allow assisted dying laws, in one of the biggest landmark social changes in the country in decades.

After an emotionally charged five-hour debate, members of the House of Commons voted by 330 to 275 on Saturday (AEDT) to support a plan that would allow doctors to help patients with less than six months to live to end their lives.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, centre, who proposed the landmark private member’s bill on assisted dying, meets campaigners after the vote was passed.Credit: Getty Images

The decision in Westminster followed weeks of divisive public debate in Britain on a complex ethical question that transcended political affiliations and provoked sharp disagreement. Many likened the historic vote to Britain’s legalisation of abortion in 1967, the abolition of the death penalty in 1969 and the legalisation of same-sex marriage in 2014.

The new law, which must now be scrutinised in parliamentary committees with amendments likely to be put forward, would mean that only terminally ill adults who are expected to die within six months and registered with a GP for at least 12 months are eligible for assisted dying.

The person must also have the mental capacity to make the choice and be deemed to have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish free from coercion or pressure. Coercion would be illegal, punishable with a jail sentence of up to 14 years.

The person must make two separate declarations, witnessed and signed, about their wish to die.

Supporters of the “Not Dead Yet” campaign, which opposes the Assisted Dying bill, react as news breaks that the bill has passed the first stage.Credit: Getty Images

Two independent doctors must make assessments on eligibility at least seven days apart and a High Court signs off the decision. The person will have 14 days after the judge has made their ruling to reflect. The dying person must take the medication to end their life themselves.

The legislation was proposed by a Labour MP, Kim Leadbeater, but lawmakers were given the freedom to vote with their conscience, meaning the outcome was impossible to predict.

She told parliament that her legislation addressed “one of the most significant issues of our time,” and asked colleagues to help families who face “the brutal and cruel reality of the status quo.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was among 234 Labour MPs voting for assisted dying, along with 14 other cabinet ministers. But Labour was deeply split, with 147 MPs voting against, including eight cabinet ministers such as Starmer’s deputy Angela Rayner and Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

While proponents of assisted dying argued it was a compassionate way to ease unbearable pain in the final months of life, critics had argued it was a threat to the old, the disabled, and those with complex medical conditions whom, they argue, might be pressured into a premature death.

Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister, was among 23 Conservatives who voted in favour, although the bulk of the party, including Sunak’s successor as leader, Kemi Badenoch, voted against. While the SNP abstained, all other mainland parties were split, except the Greens, all four of whom backed the bill.

Streeting had argued ahead of the vote that training staff to deal with assisted dying would add costs to the country’s National Health Service. He also pointed to the uneven availability of palliative care in Britain, suggesting that some patients may feel that they effectively have no alternative but to opt for assisted dying.

Assisted dying is legal in a handful of European countries, Canada, all Australian states and the ACT, New Zealand, Colombia, Ecuador, and in 10 American states and the District of Columbia.

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.