Nearly seven months after it was first debated, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has now completed all of its steps in the British House of Commons, where the issue was hotly debated by MPs for almost three hours before they voted this week.
Opponents claimed amendments made since its second reading failed to address safeguarding concerns for the vulnerable members of society who could be coerced to apply for assisted dying services.
Supporters rejected the claims, insisting the proposed legislation aims to hand back terminally ill people the power of choosing how and when to die with dignity.
The BBC reports that in an unusually-packed Commons, 314 MPs voted for the Bill against 291 rejecting it.
Bill sponsor Kim Leadbeater said she was “over the moon” as the Bill will now give terminally ill patients a “choice and dignity where they might not otherwise have it”.
However, proponents of the Bill have expressed dismay over it clearing the Commons, with the Not Dead Yet UK campaign describing the vote as “a set back but not the end”.
But the journey of the Bill isn’t over yet. It will now head to the House of Lords, where peers are expected to debate it further.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
UK MPs support Bill to legalise assisted dying
Leading UK neurosurgeon with advanced cancer wants assisted dying inquiry