UK parliament backs assisted suicide bill

Members of parliament approved the bill by 330 votes to 275

British lawmakers voted Friday in favor of a bill seeking to legalize assisted suicide.

The Palace of Westminster, the meeting place of the U.K. parliament, in London, England. Daniel via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0).

Members of the U.K. Parliament approved the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill by 330 votes to 275 — a majority of 55 — Nov. 29, Black Friday.

If the bill completes its passage through parliament, it will introduce arguably the most significant social change in England and Wales since the legalization of abortion in 1967.

Members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the U.K. parliament, approved the bill after a five-hour debate just 18 days after the text was published.

The Catholic Church, led by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, had firmly opposed the bill.

In an October pastoral letter, the Archbishop of Westminster warned MPs that “a right to die can become a duty to die.”

Nichols also signed a joint letter opposing the bill alongside Anglican, Jewish, and Muslim leaders.

Responding to the Nov. 29 vote, Bishop John Sherrington, the lead bishop for life issues in England and Wales, said the bishops were “disappointed” by the outcome.

“We believe that this bill is flawed in principle and also contains particular clauses that are of concern. 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,” he said.

Sherrington said the bishops were “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 added: “We have expressed the view, during this debate, 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.”

“It remains the case that improving the quality and availability of palliative care offers the best pathway to reducing suffering at the end of life. We will continue to advocate for this and support those who work tirelessly to care for the dying in our hospices, hospitals, and care homes.”

The bill was introduced in the House of Commons by the Labour Party politician Kim Leadbeater, who won a ballot earlier this year to present a private members’ bill to parliament.

Private members’ bills rarely pass because they do not receive explicit government backing. But U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has advocated legalizing assisted suicide and promised to make parliamentary time for a bill seeking to change the law. The Abortion Act 1967 began as a private members’ bill.

The Leadbeater bill states that a terminally ill person, whose death “can reasonably be expected within 6 months,” may, “on request, be provided with assistance to end their own life.”

The draft defines terminal illness as “an inevitably progressive illness, disease or medical condition which cannot be reversed by treatment.” It says that if a person meets the criteria, a doctor can give them an “approved substance” with which to end their lives.

People seeking assisted suicide would require the approval of two doctors and a judge.

Inducing another person to use an “approved substance” through “dishonesty, coercion or pressure” would be an offense, as would the falsification or destruction of documents relating to the assisted suicide process.

Medical practitioners with conscientious objections would be required to refer patients to a colleague who accepts the practice.

The bill’s full text was published Nov. 11, just 18 days before its second reading, the first opportunity to debate the bill’s principles. In contrast, MPs had seven weeks to scrutinize a 2015 assisted suicide bill before its second reading.

More than half of MPs are new to parliament, following a July 4 general election that resulted in a landslide victory for the center-left Labour Party.

In line with the usual practice for legislation on divisive moral issues, MPs were given a free vote on the bill, rather than being instructed how to vote by their parties.

After passing its second reading Nov. 29, the bill will proceed to the committee stage, where it will be examined line by line and amendments suggested.

The bill will then enter a report stage before facing a third reading and vote in the House of Commons. After that, it will head to the House of Lords, the upper house of the U.K. parliament, for a first and second reading, committee and report stages, and a third reading.

If the bill clears all the stages it will become law with the assent of King Charles III.