London:
A bill allowing terminally ill adults in England and Wales to end their lives was published on Tuesday, setting out safeguards such as ensuring the approval of doctors and judges to allay concerns in Britain about its possible misuse to take.
The bill has polarized opinion and divided the ruling Labor Party. Lawmakers will vote on the proposed law on November 29, almost a decade after Parliament rejected an earlier bid to legalize assisted dying.
The Labor lawmaker who proposed the new law, Kim Leadbeater, described it as “very robust”, saying the legislation provides layers of safeguards to protect vulnerable people, who some critics fear may feel pressured to to end their lives if assisted dying becomes legal.
Under the proposed new law, assisted dying would only be an option for mentally competent, terminally ill adults who, as expected, have six months or less to live.
The other safeguards include two doctors confirming seven days apart that the person is eligible and has made their decision without pressure, while a judge would then speak to one of those doctors before a 14-day reflection period.
“This is only for terminally ill adults. It's not for anyone else. It's for people who are dying, and it's about shortening death rather than ending life,” Leadbeater told BBC radio.
The bill would make it illegal to pressure or force someone to end their life through assisted death. This crime could carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
Under current laws, assisting suicide is punishable by up to 14 years in prison, but Leadbeater says the current rules do not reflect a shift in public opinion on the issue over the past decade.
Supporters of assisted dying say Britain is a laggard after Australia, Canada, New Zealand and some US states legalized it under certain circumstances in recent years. It has been legal in Switzerland since 1942 and in the Netherlands since 2002.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said politicians will be able to vote with their conscience on the issue, rather than along party lines. He has supported changing the law in the past, while Health Minister Wes Streeting has said he will oppose it.
Should the proposal, known as the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Members Bill, be voted on for the first time, it would trigger the formal process for changing the law, subjecting it to further scrutiny and requiring approval from both the House of Commons as the House of Commons. the House of Lords, the upper house of parliament.
In 2015, British lawmakers voted 330 to 118 against the second reading of proposed legislation to legalize assisted dying.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
