British lawmakers to vote on assisted dying

28/11/2024 18:30

        British lawmakers must decide on Friday whether to support assisted dying in an emotional vote which has split parliament and the country.
        
        Lawmakers will debate proposals to allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults in England and Wales, with six months or less left to live, the right to choose to end their lives with medical help.
        
        The first attempt to change the law in a decade has caused a national debate in Britain, with former prime ministers, faith leaders, medics, judges and ministers in Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government weighing in on the subject.
        
        Were parliament to back the bill, and see it through the full legislative process, Britain would follow other countries such as Australia, Canada and some U.S. states in launching what would be one of its biggest social reforms in a generation.
        
        Polls show that a majority of Britons back assisted dying and interviews on the streets in London this week showed that many people want those in the last months of their lives to have a greater sense of control.