Emotive debate begins in UK on assisted dying as law change proposed

LONDON: Proposals to allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales the right to end their lives were introduced in parliament on Wednesday, setting off an emotional debate on an issue that polarises opinion.

The assisted dying bill is expected to allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults with six months or less left to live the right to choose to end their lives with medical help. It is the first attempt to change the law in a decade.

Kim Leadbeater, a lawmaker from Britain’s governing Labour Party who is behind the bill, said the current law, under which assisting suicide is punishable by up to 14 years in jail, was outdated given a shift in public opinion.

“For some people palliative care is not going to ease their pain and suffering and they are asking for the choice to have an assisted death, and I think they should be given that choice,” she said in an interview.

Legalising assisted dying is supported by up to two-thirds of Britons, according to a 2023 Ipsos Mori poll, and has some high-profile supporters including Prime Minister Keir Starmer and broadcaster Esther Rantzen.

In recent years, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and some US states have legalised assisted dying under certain circumstances. It has been legal in Switzerland since 1942 and in the Netherlands since 2002.

Opponents of assisted dying argue that vulnerable sick people could feel pressured into choosing it, and some worry the law could then be extended to cover other conditions.

“For many of us, including many disabled people who would be impacted by these laws, it’s not just worrying, it’s terrifying,” actor and broadcaster Liz Carr said on X.

Protecting the vulnerable

Archbishop Justin Welby, head of the Church of England, said he was concerned that, whatever the safeguards, it would not be possible to protect the most vulnerable.

“My concern is that once you can ask for assisted suicide, it soon becomes something that you feel that you ought to do,” he said. “Permission slips into being duty.” Leadbeater said her bill would be “robust” in addressing such concerns.

The proposed legislation will be debated by lawmakers on Nov 29 after which a vote could be held, kicking off the formal process for a law change.

In 2015, British lawmakers voted 330 to 118 against the second reading of proposed legislation to legalise assisted dying.

Some of Britain’s biggest social reforms have come as a result of what are known as private members’ bills, submitted to parliament by individual lawmakers such as Leadbeater. They have included abolition of the death penalty, the legalisation of abortion and the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the 1960s.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said politicians will be able to vote with their conscience on the matter, rather than along party lines.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2024