UK Parliament rejects assisted dying bill for England and Wales after heated debate
LONDON — The House of Commons rejected a bill to legalize assisted dying for terminally ill adults in England and Wales on Friday, with 286 MPs voting against and 270 in favor.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would have allowed adults with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and an expert panel. The vote followed a four-hour debate in which MPs spoke passionately on both sides. The government adopted a neutral stance, and Prime Minister Andy Burnham did not vote to avoid influencing the debate.
Labour MP Lauren Edwards, who reintroduced the bill after it stalled earlier this year, called the result “hugely disappointing” and “heartbreaking” for terminally ill people and their families. “Assisted dying will come in this country, as it is already doing all across the world, but not soon enough,” she said. Edwards added that Parliament had “dropped the ball” and that the current law, which punishes assisted dying with up to 14 years in prison, is “too cruel and too unjust.”
Opponents, including disability rights activist Philip Friend, expressed relief, arguing the bill lacked sufficient protections for vulnerable people. Conservative MP Edward Leigh had previously warned that assisted dying could become “assisted suicide” in practice.
The bill’s defeat means any future attempt to legalize assisted dying would require a new legislative process from scratch, as the Parliament Acts cannot be used to bypass the House of Lords. Campaigners, including Esther Rantzen, a terminal cancer patient, said the decision was tragic for those who needed the option. “I am deeply sad that it won’t come soon enough for many of the people who need it,” Rantzen told the BBC.
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