UK Government Set To Introduce Assisted Dying Bill For Persons With Terminal Illnesses

Labour politician Kim Leadbeater will present the bill, which aims to give terminally ill individuals in England and Wales the option of physician-assisted death.

The British government is set to introduce a bill to legalise assisted dying in Parliament on Wednesday.

This represents the first House of Commons debate on the issue in nearly a decade, following unsuccessful court challenges to change the existing legal ban, AP reports.

Labour politician Kim Leadbeater will present the bill, which aims to give terminally ill individuals in England and Wales the option of physician-assisted death.

The details of the bill will be disclosed later this month ahead of a parliamentary vote.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged that lawmakers will have a “free vote,” allowing them to vote according to their conscience rather than party lines. He supported a similar bill in 2015, asserting, “there are grounds for changing the law.”

“There is absolutely no question of disabled people or those with mental illness who are not terminally ill being pressured to end their lives,” Leadbeater stated.

She emphasized the need to “get the legislation right, with the necessary protections and safeguards in place.”

The new bill is expected to resemble an assisted dying proposal introduced in the House of Lords earlier this year, which has faced slow progress. The unelected House of Lords reviews and amends legislation passed by the elected House of Commons; bills originating there rarely become law.

The House of Lords proposal limits assisted dying to adults with six months or fewer to live and mandates permission from the High Court after securing a declaration from two doctors, among other conditions.

Esther Rantzen, founder of a British children’s charity and a terminal lung cancer patient, urged the public to contact their local MPs, stating, “all we are asking for is the right to choose.” She plans to travel to Switzerland for assisted suicide in the absence of a legal option in Britain.

Opponents of the bill, such as actress Liz Carr, a disability rights advocate, argue that changing the law could jeopardize vulnerable individuals.

Assisted suicide is already legal in several countries, including Australia, Belgium, and Canada, with varying regulations. Naomi Richards, an anthropologist at the University of Glasgow, noted that the number of individuals who would opt for assisted dying in Britain might be limited unless public pressure grows for broader access.

“These are questions that in a democracy will only be answered further down the road,” she stated.

Trudo Lemmens, a health law and policy professor at the University of Toronto, stressed the need for Britain to first address healthcare inequities.

He remarked, “What we’ve seen is that people ask for medical assistance in dying because they feel they’re a burden to others,” referencing Canada’s experience post-legalization in 2016.

“Pressure inevitably increases to expand it beyond what is legislated,” Lemmens cautioned.

“Countries should be extremely careful on this and deeply study what has happened in other jurisdictions before they allow end-of-life termination by physicians.”