MPs vote for bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales
GuardianDEC 2024
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is a compassionate and overdue step forward, reflecting the will of the public after years of parliamentary hesitation. The 330-275 vote in favor acknowledges the right of individuals to make deeply personal choices about their own end-of-life care. Critics’ concerns about palliative care and societal pressures deserve attention but do not outweigh the importance of autonomy and dignity in facing terminal illness. This bill is a vital, humane advancement in British law.
The Assisted Dying Bill poses grave risks to society’s most vulnerable. It prioritizes the right to die over the right to live, especially in a country where social care is underfunded and many people struggle to meet basic needs. Evidence from Canada and the Netherlands shows how such laws expand, with people choosing death due to poverty or lack of care while many rightly fear coercion, abuse, and a shift in societal values. The focus must be on improving care, not facilitating death.
There is a 60% chance that assisted dying for terminally ill adults will be legal for the majority of UK residents by 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.