Nine years after rejecting the first proposal to legalize assisted dying in the UK, the parliament will consider a fresh proposal for euthanasia in October. The bill is slotted to be introduced on October 16th by Kim Leadbeater, a member of parliament representing the Labour Party. In 2024, assisted dying remains illegal in Britain; however, a similar bill was presented in Scotland, with a separate legal system, earlier this year.
BREAKING: @kimleadbeater is bringing forward a bill to legalise assisted dying.
She recently topped the ballot for private members bills. A vote is likely before Xmas.
Parliament has debated this before, but it looks more likely to pass than ever.https://t.co/We5OuFW0mc
— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) October 3, 2024
According to Leadbeater, laws on assisted dying have not been reformed in the UK for the last 60 years. “Somebody with a terminal condition and very little time left has only limited options,” Leadbeater wrote in The Guardian newspaper. The Labour Party leader believes that “Parliament should now be able to consider a change in the law that would offer reassurance and relief—and most importantly, dignity and choice—to people in the last months of their lives.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised the Parliament a free vote on this bill. Simon Case, Cabinet Secretary and Starmer’s most senior adviser, said, “The government will therefore remain neutral on the passage of the bill and on the matter of assisted dying.” Humanist UK has reported that 30 countries across the globe legally provide some form of assisted dying under their legal framework. Andrew Copson, Humanists’ chief executive, elaborated in a statement, “Parliamentarians will have in front of them vital questions about eligibility, process, and safeguards that it will be the duty of all of society to help them address.”
Assisted dying is illegal in the UK, meaning citizens from England, Northern Ireland, and Wales who travel to Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to facilitate the process could be faced with up to 14 years of prosecution. In 2015, a bill on euthanasia was closed in the House of Commons. However public support and advocacy have increased significantly since this legislation was last deliberated.
