United Kingdom to consider 'historic' bill to legalise assisted dying

British lawmakers to consider legalizing assisted dying for terminally ill adults, reflecting changing public opinion on the issue.

British lawmakers will soon consider whether to give terminally ill adults a choice to end their own lives with medical assistance, in the first parliamentary move to legalise assisted dying in almost a decade.

Proponents of assisted dying say public opinion on the highly emotive issue has been changing since lawmakers voted against a similar bill in 2015 and that mentally competent, terminally ill adults with six months or fewer left to live deserve to choose whether to end their lives.

The practice is currently illegal in England and Wales and carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. Those who accompany relatives choosing euthanasia in places like Switzerland, where it has been legal since 1942, could face prosecution in Britain for assisting suicide.

In recent years, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and some U.S. states have legalised assisted dying, or euthanasia, in varying degrees.

The new legislation, which has not been published yet, will be presented to Parliament on October 16 by Labour Party lawmaker Kim Leadbeater. She won a ballot giving her the right to try to pass a bill on a subject of her choice and confirmed on Thursday (October 3, 2024) that she would present one on legalising assisted dying.

While it does not have government backing, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose Labour Party won an election in July, promised earlier this year to give lawmakers a free vote, meaning they won't be ordered to vote in any particular way.

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case said in a letter to ministers that they would also not be told how to vote.