Britain to again seek to legalize assisted dying
In the United Kingdom, lawmakers are due to reconsider on Friday a bill to legalize assisted dying for terminally ill people. MP Lauren Edwards will introduce the initiative in the House of Commons through the private member’s bill mechanism, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Terms of the bill
The document provides that mentally competent adults in England and Wales with a terminal illness who are expected to have six months or less to live will be able to receive medical assistance to end their lives. Approval from a panel of specialists will be required.
The government has taken a neutral position on the bill, so MPs may vote according to their own convictions rather than along party lines. In 2025, the House of Commons supported the bill: 314 MPs voted in favor and 291 against.
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Previous consideration and support
A previous attempt to change the law ended in March without the House of Lords passing the document. Its members did not have time to discuss hundreds of proposed amendments during that parliamentary session. Concerns over protecting vulnerable seriously ill people from coercion also complicated the previous attempt at legalization. Parliament rejected a similar bill ten years ago.
An Ipsos poll published on Monday showed that two in three Britons generally support legalizing assisted dying. At the same time, in some cases this support depends on additional funding for palliative care. Edwards called the initiative an urgent progressive reform and said terminally ill people should be given more control over the circumstances of their death.
