330 lawmakers voted in favour with 275 against “Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life)” bill
Britain’s parliament backed a new bill to allow assisted dying on Friday, kicking off months of wrangling over a possible legal change that has sparked a national conversation about dignity in death and end-of-life care.
In an initial approval of the bill, 330 lawmakers voted in favour with 275 against the “Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life)” bill, which would provide for mentally competent, terminally ill adults in England and Wales who are assessed by doctors to have six months or less left to live the right to choose to end their lives with medical help.
It is a historic step towards a change in the law which could see Britain follow other countries such as Australia, Canada and some US states in launching what would be one of its biggest social reforms in a generation.
However, the bill could still be altered or even voted down as it makes its way through both the House of Commons and the unelected upper chamber of parliament, the House of Lords.
“It will be a very thorough process,” Kim Leadbeater, the Labour lawmaker who introduced the bill, told the BBC, adding that the process could take another six months.
“There’s plenty of time to get this right,” she said after more than four hours of often emotional debate in the chamber.
