In a landmark decision, British MPs have voted to allow terminally ill patients in England and Wales to end their lives with assistance under strict conditions, marking one of the most significant social changes in decades. The approval came after a five-hour debate and a vote of 330 to 275 in favor of the bill proposed by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.
Terminally ill patients in England and Wales will be allowed to end their own lives under strict conditions after British MPs voted to allow assisted dying laws, in one of the biggest landmark social changes in the country in decades.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, centre, who proposed the landmark private member’s bill on assisted dying, meets campaigners after the vote was passed.The decision in Westminster followed weeks of divisive public debate in Britain on a complex ethical question that transcended political affiliations and provoked sharp disagreement. Many likened the historic vote to Britain’s legalisation of abortion in 1967, the abolition of the death penalty in 1969 and the legalisation of same-sex marriage in 2014.
The person must also have the mental capacity to make the choice and be deemed to have expressed a clear, settled and informed wish free from coercion or pressure. Coercion would be illegal, punishable with a jail sentence of up to 14 years.Supporters of the “Not Dead Yet” campaign, which opposes the Assisted Dying bill, react as news breaks that the bill has passed the first stage.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was among 234 Labour MPs voting for assisted dying, along with 14 other cabinet ministers. But Labour was deeply split, with 147 MPs voting against, including eight cabinet ministers such as Starmer’s deputy Angela Rayner and Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
Assisted Dying Terminally Ill British Mps Labour MP Kim Leadbeater House Of Commons Ethics
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