After an emotive and at times impassioned debate, Britain’s lawmakers voted to allow assisted dying for terminally ill patients in England and Wales under strict conditions, opening the way to one of the most profound social changes in the country in decades, reported The New York Times.
By 330 votes to 275, members of Parliament gave their
support to a bill that would permit doctors to help some terminally ill
patients to end their lives.
Friday’s vote was not the final say on the matter for
Parliament, as it will now be scrutinized in parliamentary committees and
amendments to the bill may be put forward. But it is a landmark political
moment, setting the stage for a significant shift that some have likened to
Britain’s legalization of abortion in 1967 and the abolition of the death
penalty in 1969.
The new legislation would apply to a narrow group:
Applicants would have to be over 18, diagnosed with a terminal illness and have
been given no more than six months to live. Two doctors and a judge would be
required to give their approval, and the fatal drugs would have to be
self-administered.
Assisted dying is already legal in a handful of European countries,
as well as in Canada, New Zealand, 10 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
The bill debated on Friday was proposed by a Labour Party
member of parliament, Kim Leadbeater, but lawmakers were given the freedom to
vote with their consciences, instead of being expected to vote along a
party-line, meaning the outcome was impossible to predict.
ImageKim Leadbeater in London last month. The Labour
lawmaker told Parliament that her legislation addressed “one of the most
significant issues of our time.”Credit...Jaimi Joy/Reuters
During almost five hours of debate on Friday in a crowded
parliamentary chamber, raw divisions were revealed over an issue that
transcended political affiliations.
Meg Hillier, a Labour lawmaker, said the legislation would
“cross a Rubicon,” by involving the state in the death of some of those it
governs. “This is a fundamental change in the relationship between the state
and the citizen, and the patient and their doctor,” she said.
But Kit Malthouse, a Conservative lawmaker, argued in
support of the bill, saying, “The deathbed for far too many is a place of
misery, torture and degradation, a reign of blood and vomit and tears.” He
added, “I see no compassion and beauty in that — only profound human
suffering.”
To read more CLICK HERE