Following an at-times emotional debate in Great Britain’s Parliament, the House of Commons voted Friday to legalize physician-assisted suicide in England and Wales. It was a vote that many said marks a significant societal change, comparable to Parliament’s 1967 legalization of abortion.
The vote was 330 to 275. Yea votes include that of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
But the bill must pass several more hurdles in parliament and will not be brought before MPs again until April, The Guardian said.
“After that it must be voted on again by MPs and go through the House of Lords,” said the newspaper. “Should it become law, there will be a two-year implementation period.”
Opponents in the House of Commons warned during debate that patients could be subject to coercion, that the law would fundamentally change the relationship between the state and its citizens and between doctors and patients, and that safeguards for vulnerable people were insufficient.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who introduced the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, has insisted that the bill contains "the most robust safeguards" of any assisted dying legislation in the world. That includes two independent doctors having to approve the decision, followed by a high-court judge, with the person having to administer the drugs themselves.
The legislation also includes a maximum 14-year prison sentence for anyone who coerces someone into requesting assisted dying or taking the medicine.
Parliamentary debate
But another Labour MP, Florence Eshalomi, urged a no vote. “We should be helping people to live comfortable pain-free lives on their own terms before we think about making it easier for them to die,” she said.
Meg Hillier, a Labour MP, recounted the experience of her teenage daughter being admitted to hospital with acute pancreatitis.
“I did not know for five days, in fact many months, whether she would live or die,” she said. “But I saw what good medicine can do that palliated that pain.”
She added: “If we have a scintilla of doubt about allowing the state that power [to facilitate a person’s suicide] we should vote against this today.”
And Labour MP Diane Abbott said that she had “many reservations” about the legislation.
“If this bill passes, we will have the [National Health Service] as a fully funded 100% suicide service but palliative care will only be funded at 30% at best,” she said.
Some in Great Britain, including Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster, have urged greater emphasis on palliative care for those who are suffering illness.
Reaction
That call was reiterated by Bishop John Sherrington, Lead Bishop for Life Issues in the Bishops Conference of England and Wales, after Friday's vote.
"Improving the quality and availability of palliative care offers the best pathway to reducing suffering at the end of life," Bishop Sherrington said in a statement. The Church will continue to call for this and "support those who work tirelessly to care for the dying in our hospices, hospitals, and care homes.”
“We believe that this bill is flawed in principle and also contains particular clauses that are of concern,”he said. “We ask the Catholic community to pray that members of Parliament will have the wisdom to reject this bill at a later stage in its progress."
“In addition to being opposed to the principle of assisted suicide, we are particularly concerned with clauses in the bill that prevent doctors from properly exercising conscientious objection, provide inadequate protection to hospices and care homes that do not wish to participate in assisted suicide and allow doctors to initiate conversations about assisted suicide,” he said. “We ask that these voices be heard in the next stages of the bill to strengthen the deep concerns about this proposed legislation.”
Sherrington reiterated the bishops’ view that “genuine compassion involves walking with those who need care, especially during sickness, disability, and old age. The vocation to care is at the heart of the lives of so many people who look after their loved ones and is the sign of a truly compassionate society. It is essential that we nurture and renew the innate call that many people have to compassionately care for others."
Not over
A statement from Right to Life UK said that passage of the bill occurred “at the same time as many elderly people go into winter with their Winter Fuel Payment cut by the Government, as palliative care services are in crisis with 100,000 people dying each year needing palliative care but not receiving it, and a wider healthcare system also in a state of crisis, with Labour’s own Health Secretary describing the NHS as 'broken.'”
And Andrea Williams, chief executive of an advocacy organization called Christian Concern, commented after the vote,
