MPs have taken a significant step towards legalizing assisted suicide in England and Wales on Friday, November 29, by supporting a bill that grants terminally ill individuals the right to end their lives.
The House of Commons approved the bill with 330 votes in favor and 275 against, a majority of 55. Both Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves voted in support, according to Labour MPs speaking to The Guardian.
Introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, the private member’s bill would allow terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to choose assisted dying, provided their request is approved by two doctors and a high court judge.
Despite this milestone, the proposed law faces a lengthy journey, as it must clear several parliamentary stages. It will not return for further consideration until April and is unlikely to be enacted for at least three years.
The first country in the world to decriminalize euthanasia was the Netherlands in 2002, with the Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures) Act, while other European countries that allow assisted suicide include Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain, Austria, and Portugal.
