Top Stories

UK to consider 'historic' bill to legalize assisted dying

Public opinion on the highly emotive issue has been changing since lawmakers voted against a similar bill in 2015

UK to consider 'historic' bill to legalize assisted dying

Pro "assisted dying" campaigners protest outside the Houses of Parliament in central London, Britain September 11, 2015.

Reuters

New legislation will be presented in Parliament in mid-October

48% Britons support assisted dying: poll

Australia, Canada, New Zealand and some US states have legalized assisted dying, or euthanasia

British lawmakers will soon consider whether to give terminally ill adults a choice to end their own lives with medical assistance, in the first parliamentary move to legalize assisted dying in almost a decade.

Proponents of assisted dying say public opinion on the highly emotive issue has been changing since lawmakers voted against a similar bill in 2015, and that mentally competent, terminally ill adults with six months or fewer left to live deserve to choose whether to end their lives.

The practice is currently illegal in England and Wales and carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. Those who accompany relatives choosing euthanasia in places like Switzerland, where it has been legal since 1942, could face prosecution in Britain for assisting suicide.

In recent years, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and some U.S. states have legalized assisted dying, or euthanasia, in varying degrees.

The new legislation, which has not been published yet, will be presented to Parliament in mid-October by Labour Party lawmaker Kim Leadbeater. She won a ballot giving her the right to try to pass a bill on a subject of her choice and confirmed on Thursday that she would present one on legalize assisted dying.

While it does not have government backing, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose Labour Party won an election in July, promised earlier this year to give lawmakers a free vote, meaning they won't be ordered to vote in any particular way.

The law would apply to England and Wales if passed through the full process of legislative scrutiny by both houses of Parliament, which could take several months. Scotland's devolved Parliament is considering similar legislation.

Research published by Savanta on Friday showed that Britons were more than twice as likely to support assisted dying rather than oppose it. Polling of 2,000 people showed 48% supported it, 21% opposed it, 22% say they neither support or oppose it and the rest don't know.

"This is a historic opportunity to bring about real change for dying people ... The mood in Westminster has shifted dramatically, at last catching up with public opinion," said Sarah Wootton, head of the campaign group Dignity in Dying.

Comments

See what people are discussing

More from World

Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport named 'World’s Most Beautiful' at Prix Versailles

Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport named 'World’s Most Beautiful' at Prix Versailles

Announcement made at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris, coinciding with airport’s first anniversary and the UAE’s Eid Al Etihad celebrations