British parliament votes in favour of assisted dying law

The parliament of the United Kingdom approved a bill that would legalize assisted dying for those who are terminally ill, enabling the biggest social change to take place in a generation.

In the UK’s lower chamber of parliament, the House of Commons, 314 members of parliament voted for and 291 against the bill on Friday.

The House of Lords, the House of Lords, will examine the bill for months while it is still undergoing scrutiny, but the Lords are hesitant to veto a bill that has already been approved by the Commons.

With six months or less to live, the mentally competent, terminally ill adults in England and Wales would have the option of ending their lives with medical care under the “Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life)” law.

A panel of experts and two doctors would have to approve those who wanted the procedure.

According to Labour Party MP Kim Leadbeater, changing the law would “offer a compassionate and safe choice” for those who are terminally ill.

Ten years prior, parliament last voted against allowing assisted dying. The assisted dying bill’s previous vote was 330 to 275 in favor in November.

73 percent of people in a YouGov poll that polled 2,003 adults last month and was released on Thursday said they were in favor of changing the bill.

Kill the bill, not the sick, you say?

On Friday, protesters gathered outside of Parliament to protest both the legislation and its opponents.

In support of the bill, supporters hung placards that read “my life, my death.”

David Walker, 82, claimed outside of Parliament that he had witnessed his wife’s three-year battle with terminal illness.

He said, “You have nothing if you have no quality of life, but you can help other people who are going through the same thing,” and that’s why I’m here.

On the other hand, those who opposed the bill carried placards that read, “Let’s care, not kill, and” kill the bill, not the sick.

The bill could “open a floodgate” of people being forced to end their lives, said Elizabeth Burden, a 52-year-old doctor.

It’s a “slip-ass,” it says. Once this is permitted, Because dementia patients are all vulnerable, she told AFP, “everything will fall apart.”