New assisted dying bill sparks debate in British Parliament

In the Houses of Parliament‚ a new bill that could change how Britain deals with end-of-life choices was brought up on 10/11/24. This is the first time in about ten years that the House of Commons will talk about letting doctors help people die‚ after earlier tries to change the law didnt work.

Kim Leadbeater‚ a Labour Party member‚ read the bills name in the Commons‚ which is how they start a new law. The bill wants to give very sick people in England and Wales a way to get help from doctors to die‚ but we wont know all the details until later this month. Then‚ the MPs will have a big talk about it and vote.

Keir Starmer‚ the Prime Minister said MPs can vote how they want‚ not just how their party says. He liked a similar bill back in 2015 and thinks “there are grounds for changing the law“.

Leadbeater said‚ “Its important that we get the legislation right with the necessary protections and safeguards in place“. She also made it clear that people who are disabled or have mental health problems (but arent dying) wont be pushed to end their lives

Some small groups of people who like and dont like the bill stood outside Parliament that morning.

The bill in the Commons might be a lot like one that was brought up in the House of Lords a few months back‚ but that one is moving very slowly. The Lords bill says only adults who have six months or less to live can ask for help to die‚ and they need to get okay from the High Court and two doctors‚ among other things.

Esther Rantzen‚ who started a kids charity and has very bad lung cancer‚ wants people to write to their local MP. She said‚ “all we are asking for is the right to choose“. Rantzen plans to go to Switzerland where they let people from other countries get help to die‚ because she cant do it legally in Britain.

But some people dont like the idea. Liz Carr‚ an actress who fights for disabled peoples rights‚ thinks theres no way to change the law without putting people who need help in danger.

Other places like Australia‚ Belgium Canada‚ Luxembourg‚ the Netherlands New Zealand‚ Portugal‚ Spain‚ Switzerland and some parts of the U.S. already let doctors help people die‚ but they all have different rules about who can do it.

Naomi Richards‚ who studies how people deal with death at the University of Glasgow‚ thinks not many people would use this law if it passed in Britain‚ unless lots of people asked for more people to be allowed to use it.

Trudo Lemmens‚ who knows a lot about health laws at the University of Toronto‚ thinks the U.K. should first make sure everyone can get good healthcare. He said‚ “What weve seen is that people ask for medical assistance in dying because they feel theyre a burden to others“. This happened in Canada after they made it legal in 2016.

Lemmens also warned‚ “Pressure inevitably increases to expand it beyond what is legislated“. He thinks countries should be really careful and look at what happened in other places before they let doctors help end peoples lives