Parliament in the United Kingdom approves the assured death bill: how would it work? | Expricat News

British parliament has closely vote In favor of a bill aimed at legalizing the assisted death for those in the terminal phase, marking a historic moment of social reform in the history of the country.

Friday, the legislation was adopted by a vote of 314-291 in the House of Commons, eliminating its greatest parliamentary obstacle, and will now undergo months of control in the Chamber of Lords, the high British chamber.

The process could lead to new amendments when it goes to the Lords, but the upper chamber is generally reluctant to block the legislation which has been adopted by deputies elected in the municipalities.

Friday’s vote came after many hours of emotional debate, including references to personal stories, in the room. He followed a vote in November which approved the legislation in principle.

Before that, the House of Commons voted on the issue in 2015, when it rejected the legalization of assisted death.

What is in the assisted dying bill?

The “end -of -life) adult bills in terminal phase” gives mental and sick adults in terminal phase in England and Wales, who have six months or less to live, the right to choose to end their lives with medical assistance.

Patients will have to be able to take fatal medication by themselves after having received a green light from doctors and a panel including a social worker, a senior legal figure and a psychiatrist.

Assisted suicide is different from euthanasiaWhere a health professional or another person gives a lethal injection to the request of a patient.

Under the current legislation, a person who helps a terminal person puts an end to his life can face a police investigation, prosecution and prison sentence up to 14 years.

Changes to the original project of the new bill have been made to include the appointment of independent defenders to support people with learning disabilities, autism or mental health problems and the creation of an advisory committee for disabled people.

Logistics must still be excited, especially if the practice or any service that supports it would be integrated into the National Health Service (NHS) or would operate as a separate unit available by third parties.

The bill will not apply in Northern Ireland or Scotland, which is its own vote on the issue.

What are the arguments for assisted death?

Supporters of the bill claim that this will guarantee dignity and compassion for people with a terminal diagnosis, who must have the choice of whether or not to relieve their suffering.

Labor deputy Kim Leadbeater, who presented the bill, told Guardian newspaper that terminal phase should have rights on their bodies similar to those who allow a woman to choose an abortion.

“As much as I am fighting so that the rights of people with disabilities are better dealt with by the company, I will also fight for the rights of dying people,” she said.

Some bills of the bill also argue that current legislation discriminates the poor, who face possible prosecution for having helped their loved ones to die, while the wealthy can travel abroad to legally access the services.

Conservative deputy Peter Bedford spoke out against this perceived inequality. “At least one Briton each week, makes the stressful and often lonely trip to Switzerland for assisted death, at a cost of £ 12,000 ($ 16,100),” he said. “This bill does not concern life, it is a question of shortening death.”

Labor MP Maureen Burke spoke of her brother David, who suffered from pancreatic cancer. “He could never have known that I would never have the opportunity to stay in this place and ask colleagues to make sure that others do not live what he has experienced,” she said. “I did well by my brother speaking here today.”

Opinion polls show that a majority of the citizens of the United Kingdom have attended death. Sarah Wootton, director general of the Dignity in Dying campaign, based in the United Kingdom, said that the vote had sent “a clear message” and that “parliament is resistant to the public and that the change arrives”.

Although there is no calendar for the implementation of the bill, under the terms of the legislation, it must start within four years of the promotion of the law.

What do the opponents say?

Opponents fear that vulnerable people will be forced to put an end to their lives or to feel obliged to do so for fear of becoming a burden for their families and their society.

The demonstrators who gathered outside the Parliament when the vote took place on Friday retained the banners urging politicians not to do the health service managed by the State, the NHS, the “National Suicide Service”.

Several deputies withdrew their support for the bill after the initial vote last year, saying that guarantees had been weakened. One of the most important changes in the bill compared to last November was the decline in the requirement that a judge disconnects on any decision. The last vote was adopted by a majority of 23 years, a narrowing of the support of the majority of 55 (330 votes at 275) in November.

Care Not Killing, a group that opposes the change of law, called the bill “deeply imperfect and dangerous” and argued that politicians had not had enough time to consider its implications.

“The members of the Parliament had less than 10 hours to consider more than 130 amendments to the bill, or less than five minutes per change. Does anyone think it is enough time to consider changes in a bill that is literally a question of life and death? ” said the group’s CEO Gordon Macdonald.

Opponents also raised concerns about the impact of death helped on the finances of the NHS managed by the State, if this could allow it to divert requests for financing for improvements to palliative care and how it could change the relationship between doctors and their patients.

Tanni Gray-Thompson, a disabled deputy and a paralympic medalist. In an interview with Sky News, she said that no one needed to die from a “terrible death” if they have access to specialized palliative care.

“I am really worried that people with disabilities, due to the cost of health and social care, because this is removed, this choice is then removed, so the only choice they have is to end their lives,” she said.

Where else is it assisted to die legal?

The laws on the supervised dying have been introduced in several countries. About 300 million people worldwide have legal access to this option, according to Dignity in Dying.

In March, the island of Man became the first place of the British islands to adopt an assisted dying bill, allowing adults in the terminal phase with a prognosis of 12 months or less to choose to end their lives.

Switzerland legalized assistance to die in 1942, which makes it the first country in the world to allow the practice provided that the reason is not selfish.

In Europe, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal and Austria have a form of legalized assisted death.

In the United States, practice is known as “dying assisted by doctors” and is legal in 10 states, while in Australia, it has been legal in each state since 2022.

In Latin America, Colombia legalized euthanasia for terminal adult patients in 2014, while Ecuador chose to decriminalize euthanasia and help suicide in 2024.

Canada has one of the most liberal death systems assisted in the world. He introduced a maid or medical assistance to death, in 2016 for terminal adults. In 2021, the obligation to suffer from a terminal disease was removed and it is now debating the program to open the program to people who also suffer from a mental illness.

What other countries plan to legalize it?

An assisted death bill is considered in Scotland. He adopted an initial vote in May, but he will now need two other parliamentary control cycles before being able to become law.

French President Emmanuel Macron supported a bill allowing certain people in the last stages of a terminal disease to access assisted death. This was approved by the National Assembly in May and will now go to the Senate before a second reading in the lower chamber.

According to Death with Dignity, 17 American states are considering assisted death bills this year.